Twyfelfontein Rock Engravings

　　The Twyfelfontein Rock Engravings are the largest collection of rock engravings in the world, with over two thousand recorded images to date. Most of the well-preserved engravings depict rhinos, elephants, ostriches, and giraffes, as well as human and animal footprints. The site also includes six rock shelters with painted images, featuring human figures carved into red ochre.

　　These engravings were unearthed alongside artifacts from two heritage sites, including stone tools from the Late Stone Age, ostrich eggshell beads, and slate pendants. Human or bird figures are rare, and it is said that these carvings illustrate rituals where humans transformed into animals. The most famous example is the “Lion Man,” a lion with five toes on each paw. This carving suggests a connection between the rock art and the belief systems of hunter-gatherers who inhabited the area before the arrival of pastoralists around the year 1000 AD.

　　The Twyfelfontein Rock Engravings provide a coherent, extensive, and high-quality record of ritual practices related to hunter-gatherer communities in this part of Southern Africa for at least 2,000 years, and convincingly demonstrate the link between the ritual and economic practices of these hunter-gatherers.

　　Twyfelfontein or /Ui-//aes Must-visit reason: The world’s largest collection of rock engravings Continent: Africa Country/Region: Namibia Province/State: Kunene Region