World Heritage Identification Number: 1183
World Heritage since: 2006
Category: Cultural Heritage
Transboundary Heritage: No
Endangered Heritage: No
Country: 🇹🇿 United Republic of Tanzania
Continent: Africa
UNESCO World Region: Africa
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Unraveling the Secrets of Kondoa Rock-Art Sites: A Journey Through Time and Culture
The Kondoa Rock-Art Sites, nestled in the heart of central Tanzania, offer a captivating glimpse into the rich cultural tapestry of the past. Inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2006, these ancient paintings etched onto the rocky outcrops have stood the test of time, providing a unique testament to the evolving socio-economic landscape and spiritual beliefs of various societies that once inhabited this region.
More to come…UNESCO Description of the World Heritage Site
On the eastern slopes of the Masai escarpment bordering the Great Rift Valley are natural rock shelters, overhanging slabs of sedimentary rocks fragmented by rift faults, whose vertical planes have been used for rock paintings for at least two millennia. The spectacular collection of images from over 150 shelters over 2,336 km2 , many with high artistic value, displays sequences that provide a unique testimony to the changing socio-economic base of the area from hunter-gatherer to agro-pastoralist, and the beliefs and ideas associated with the different societies. Some of the shelters are still considered to have ritual associations with the people who live nearby, reflecting their beliefs, rituals and cosmological traditions.
Encyclopedia Record: Kondoa Rock-Art Sites
The Kondoa Rock-Art Sites or Kondoa Irangi Rock Paintings are a series of ancient paintings on rockshelter walls in central Tanzania. The Kondoa region was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2006 because of its impressive collection of rock art. These sites were named national monuments in 1937 by the Tanzania Antiquities Department. The paintings are located approximately nine kilometres east of the main highway (T5) from Dodoma to Babati, about 20 km north of Kondoa town, in Kondoa District of Dodoma Region, Tanzania. The boundaries of the site are marked by concrete posts. The site is a registered National Historic Sites of Tanzania.Additional Site Details
Area: 233,600 hectares
(vi) — Directly associated with events or living traditions
Coordinates: -4.7244444444 , 35.8338888888
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