KONDOA IRANGI

Kolo Rock Ancient Paintings, located in the area between Singida and the Irangi Hills in the vilaage called Kondoa Irangi. This area contains one of the world’s finest collections of prehistoric rock paintings, with an estimated 1600 individual paintings at almost two hundred different sites, the most accessible of which are in the Irangi Hills north of Kondoa. >The most recent date from just a century or two ago, but the oldest are estimated to be between 19,000 and 30,000 years old, ranking them among the world’s most ancient examples of human artistic expression. The the paintings show simplified human figures engaged in hunting, playing music instruments, crossing rivers and animals such as elephants, giraffe and antelopes. The symbolize hunter-gatherer art people who were living in this areas.
One of the key qualities of the Kondoa rock art sites is that they still play an active role in the rituals of local communities. The sites are used for instance for weather-divination, healing and initiation. It is the latest Tanzania’s World heritage site in 2006.