Twyfelfontein

Infobox World Heritage Site
Name = Twyfelfontein or /Ui-//aes


Twyfelfontein carvings
State_Party = flagicon|Namibia Namibia
Type = Cultural
Criteria = iii, v
ID = 1255
Link = http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1255/
Region = Africa
Year = 2007
Session = 31st
Extension =
Danger =

Twyfelfontein is a site in the Kunene Region of Namibia containing 2,000 figures of rock carvings. In 2007, UNESCO approved it as Namibia's first World Heritage Site. [ [http://www.namibian.com.na/2007/June/national/07A02AD421.html "The Namibian" "Twyfelfontein gets international recognition" June 29, 2007] ]

Artworks

The figures at Twyfelfontein were created over the course of two thousand years, before 1000 AD. The hunter-gatherers who lived in the region created them as part of their rituals. The carvings represent rhinoceroses, elephants, ostrichs and giraffes as well as depictions of human and animal footprints. Some of the figures notably the "Lion Man" depict the transformation of humans into animals. [http://portal.unesco.org/en/ev.php-URL_ID=38706&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html UNESCO "World Heritage Committee inscribes two natural, one mixed, and four cultural sites onto UNESCO’s World Heritage List" 28 June 2007] ]

Archaeologists have dug objects from two parts of the site including stone artefacts, pendants and beads. Twyfelfontein also contains six rock shelters containing depictions of humans painted in red ochre.

The creation of new works was probably ended by the arrival of pastoral tribes around 1000 AD.

References