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Manifold spoors of human presence can be found in the Central Sahara - from prehistoric remains to contemporary tracks of men or animals. These objects constitute timescapes where locals - the Teda - are "tracking in time." The article describes how such timescapes are constituted and how tracking takes places here. Following the Liebenberg-Carruthers-debate, the author asks whether or not "tracking in time" can be considered as science and links the results to a wider discussion about new (local) approaches to African anthropology, history, and archaeology.

Petrified footprints of now extinct rhinos and those of humans in the mud of the former lake Agadem may symbolise the beginning of an epoch dominated by humans. How could such a "local" Anthropocene be defined? In eastern Niger, two aspects seem particularly important for answering this question. The first is the disappearance of the addax in the context of the megafauna extinction. The second is the question how the "natural" environment may be conceived by the local Teda where current Western discussions highlight the "hybridity" of space.

This article examines how laws (kalaka), the institution of the mediator, and a moral and social code (kundude) contribute, through a common ethics, to maintaining social cohesion in Tubu Teda society. It shows that the analytical concept of "disorder," which has been used to characterize Teda society from colonial times to the present day, is not suitable for grasping the complex reality of this group living dispersed over a wide area. This article is the result of an innovative cooperation between a German ethnologist and a "local" Teda historian from Dirkou in Niger.