Elephants crossing the Zambezi river in Mana Pools National Park world heritage site, Zimbabwe

The great mosque in the Old Towns of Djenne world heritage site, Mali

Black and white ruffed lemur, Rainforests of the Atsinanana world heritage site, Madagascar

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(clockwise from top left: Grauer's gorilla (Kahuzi-Biega); Rock-hewn church (Lalibela); Hominid skull (Ethiopia); Protea flower (Cape Floral Region)

Stone Circles of Senegambia - Senegal & Gambia

Map showing the location of the Stone Circles of Senegambia UNESCO world heritage site (at Kerbatch and Wassu in The Gambia; Wanar and Sine Ngayene in Senegal)

Website Category: Rock-art and Pre-history

Area: 0.1 km²

Inscribed: 2006

Criteria: (i) creative masterpiece (iii) cultural tradition

Location and Values: The Stone Circles of Senegambia are found in a zone about 100 km wide and 350 km long to the north of the Gambia River and include 1053 stone circles with a total 28,931 monoliths. Four representative groups of these circles have been selected for world heritage listing - at two locations in The Gambia (Wassu and Kerbatch), with two in Senegal (Sine Ngayène and Wanar). The four locations encompass 93 stone circles and numerous tumuli and burial mounds. Their age and origins remain a mystery but a limited amount of recent excavation work suggests that they date from between the 3rd century BC and 16th century AD. Thus they pre-date the current inhabitants of the area, the Manding people, who only arrived later. This is one of only three trans-boundary world heritage properties in Africa.

Slideshow of the Stone Circles Of Senegambia:

Google Earth View: To view satellite imagery of the Kerbatch Stone Circles on Google Earth, click here. This opens a new window, so when you are finished, just close the Google Earth page and you will be straight back here to continue browsing. The most obvious feature of this satellite image is the bright blue roof of the site’s reception centre, but the stone circles can also be clearly seen, within the contemporary farming landscape.

Links to other places in the rock-art and pre-history category: Tassili n’Ajjer I Tsodilo I Tiya I Tadrart Acacus I Chongoni I Twyfelfontein I Drakensberg I Kondoa

Other Links: Official UNESCO Site Details

Monoliths at Wassu in The Gambia, one of the four sites selected to represent the Stone Circles of Senegambia under the UNESCO world heritage site designation A complete circle of stone monoliths at Wassu in The Gambia (one of the four sites selected to represent the Stone Circles of Senegambia under the UNESCO world heritage site designation) One of the tallest single stone monoliths at Wassu in The Gambia (one of the four sites selected to represent the Stone Circles of Senegambia under the UNESCO world heritage site designation) The greatest concentration of monoliths at a single site can be seen at Sine Ngayene in Senegal (one of the four sites selected to represent the Stone Circles of Senegambia under the UNESCO world heritage site designation)