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Endagulda |
Site 1 |
Lake Eyasi Region / Mbulu District
Yeda Chini sites: The following 11 sites form a cluster of inselbergs in the Endagulga plains near Yaida Chini in southern Mbulu. Like the northern Mbulu sites, the majority of them as it will become apparent are in relatively good state of preservation. To get to them one would have to get guides from Yaida Chini village.
The subject matter includes anthropomorphic and zoomorphic figures executed in semi-naturalistic and naturalistic styles respectively. A shade of red ochreous paint is used. It is noteworthy that there seems to be a deliberate attempt to portray the human figure less stylised than is the case in Singida. Whatever the significance of this is, it is premature to speculate pending further study. For now it is in good state of preservation, but there is nothing to arrest threats posed by incrustation and exfoliation.
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Igwe La Mbao |
Site 2 |
Singida Region / Iramba District / Kisiriri Division
Roughly due southeast some 4km from the Isanzu Mission is an area of many hummocks (kopjes) and inselbergs. The local people, Wanyisanzu, refer to this area as the region of Igwe la Mbao, a name, which translates to ‘the rock of drums’, refers to an impressive exterior cave, which contains the huge Iramba drums associated with rainmaking rituals.
In this area is a rock shelter decorated with friezes of animals, anthropomorphic figures, and presumed to be an ethnographical object. The paintings are executed in two shades of red, a scarlet and a lighter ocherous red. The latter seems to overlie the scarlet red. Subject matter consists of animals such as giraffes, hartebeest, waterbuck and several other antelopes.
There are also human beings and day-to-day life objects, the precise identity of which has not been ascertained as yet. Thematically, it is tempting to group the paintings into two tentative themes based on visual clues only: hunting and dancing scenes. Instances of the former are animals depicted lying down, a file/row of people presumably rejoicing over a successful hunt, and an anthropomorphic figure holding a bow while another is portrayed as having thrown an object at a giraffe. The latter is represented by a line of eight figures, which is interpreted as dancing.
A little further down the rock face are four more human figures, two of whom are holding walking sticks (possibly bows) of some sort. The animals are drawn in a naturalistic style while the anthropomorphs can be said to be semi-naturalistic. Some of the figures are shown with a type of dress, perhaps a skirt. It must be reiterated that such interpretations are, in the absence of ethnographical or folkloric evidence, only subjective and tentative.Overall, the site is in good state of preservation and will probably remain so for some time since it is a long distance from the village and in an area that is not attractive for cultivation. The painted area which runs in a semi circle from east to west is 8,25m long and the highest painting 2.55m high. The surrounding area is littered with lithics, which can tentatively be assigned to the LSA.
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Rock Art in Tanzania
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Tanzania Rock Art - Forward by Dr. Meave Leakey
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Overview of Tanzania Rock Art Sites
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Tanzania Conservation & Management
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Tanzania Rock Art Sites|
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