Description of the attraction
Due to the huge number of rock paintings Tsodilo got the name "Desert Louvre": on ten square kilometers of the Kalahari Desert there are more than 4500 ancient paintings. Archaeological research gives a consistent account of human activity and changes in the environment over 100 thousand years, albeit intermittently. Local communities living in these difficult conditions believe in the visit of Tsodilo by the spirits of their ancestors and the special energy of the place.
Located in northwest Botswana, close to the Namibian border at Okavango south of the area, the Tsodilo Hills is a small area of massive quartzite rock formations that rise from ancient sand dunes to the east and the dry bottom of an ancient lake to the west in the Kalahari Desert.
These hills have been home to humans for over a hundred thousand years. Often, large and voluminous mountain paintings exist in shelters and caves, and although their date is not precisely determined, they seem to start from the Stone Age and go up to the 19th century. In addition, sedimentary rocks accumulate significant information related to the paleo-environment. This combination made it possible to preserve these artifacts and made it possible to study the features of the life of ancient people and their interaction with the environment. The remoteness, low population density, and a high degree of resistance to erosion of quartzite rocks contributed to the good preservation of the drawings in the Tsodilo area. All excavations are supervised in accordance with national legislation.
The complex includes four main hills. The highest is 1400 meters above sea level, it is called "male", followed by "female", "child" and an unnamed mound. A distinctive feature of the Tsodilo rock art is the color of the paintings in white and red.
In total, according to scientists, there are about 500 zones in the region, illustrating thousands of years of human habitation. In addition to glass beads, ceramics and bones, artifacts of the Iron Age were found in caves at two sites. Among them were fragments of jewelry and metal tools, all made of iron or copper. Jewelry consisted of bracelets, necklaces, chains, earrings, rings, and pendants, and tools included chisels, shells, arrows, and even blades.
There is a campsite between the two largest hills, with shower and toilet, a small museum of archeology and an airstrip for transport. The sight can be reached by a winding dirt road from Shakave.
