Kondoa Rock-Art Sites 

Natural rock shelters, overhanging slabs of sedimentary rocks broken by rift faults, have been used for rock painting for at least two millennia on the eastern slopes of the Masai escarpment bordering the Great Rift Valley.

The actual number of rock art sites in the Kondoa area is unknown, although between 150 and 450 decorated rock shelters, caves, and overhanging cliff walls are thought to exist. The locations are on the steep eastern slopes, in an area of beautiful, shattered geological formations that offered the needed cover for the exhibition.

Over millennia, the enormous and rich collection of rock drawings have represented and embodied the cultures of both hunter-gatherer and pastoralist tribes who have lived in the area.

They are distinct examples of hunter-gatherer rock art at its northernmost limit, with similarities to images from southern and central Africa, as well as a peculiar streaky style and uncommon depictions of domesticated animals.

Many of the images in the spectacular collection of images from over 150 shelters have high artistic value and display sequences that provide a unique testimony to the area's changing socio-economic base, from hunter-gatherer to agro-pastoralist societies, and the beliefs and ideas associated with them.

Some of the shelters have ceremonial ties with the people who live nearby, and are linked to the local population's strong living traditions.

The Kondoa Rock-Art Sites were named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2006.

(Source UNESCO)