Editing Cairn (section)

===North and northeast Africa===
[[File:Qableh3.JPG|thumb|right|Ancient cairns in [[Qa'ableh]], [[Somalia]]]]
Cairns (''taalo'') are a common feature at [[El Ayo]], [[Haylan]], [[Qa'ableh]], [[Qombo'ul]], [[Heis (town)|Heis]], [[Salweyn]] and [[Gelweita]], among other places. [[Somalia]] in general is home to a lot of such historical settlements and [[archaeological site]]s wherein are found numerous ancient ruins and buildings, many of obscure origins.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Davies |first1=Matthew I. J. |title=Stone cairns across eastern Africa: a critical review |journal=Azania: Archaeological Research in Africa |date=June 2013 |volume=48 |issue=2: ''Monumentality in Africa'' |pages=218–240 |doi=10.1080/0067270X.2013.789207 |url=https://www.academia.edu/3047342}}</ref> However, many of these old structures have yet to be properly explored, a process which would help shed further light on local history and facilitate their preservation for posterity.<ref name="Hodd">{{cite book |editor1-last=Hodd |editor1-first=Michael |others=Cartographer: Sebastian Ballard |title=1995 East African Handbook (with Mauritius, Madagascar and Seychelles) |date=September 1994 |publisher=Trade & Travel Publications |location=Bath, England |isbn=978-0-900751-59-2 |page=640 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/eastafricanhandb0000unse_n3k5/page/640/mode/2up}}</ref>

Since [[Neolithic]] times, the climate of [[North Africa]] has become drier. A reminder of the [[desertification]] of the area is provided by [[megalith]]ic remains, which occur in a great variety of forms and in vast numbers in presently arid and uninhabitable wastelands: cairns (''kerkour''), [[dolmen]]s and circles like [[Stonehenge]], underground cells excavated in rock, [[Long barrow|barrows]] topped with huge slabs, and step [[pyramid]]-like mounds.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Belmonte |first1=Juan Antonio |last2=Betancort |first2=M. A. Perera |last3=Marrero |first3=Rita |last4=Gaspar |first4=Antonio Tejera |title=The dolmens and 'Hawanat' of Africa Proconsularis revisited |date=2003 |volume=34 |issue=116 |page=305 |url=https://adsabs.harvard.edu/full/2003JHA....34..305B |access-date=2022-09-20 |journal=Journal for the History of Astronomy |bibcode=2003JHA....34..305B |doi=10.1177/002182860303400304 |s2cid=125239058 |issn=0021-8286}}</ref>