The area of Wanar is located in the Kaffrine district of Senegal, and is made up of 21 stone circles and one double circle.
There are also numerous lyre-stones.
In fact, one third of all Senegambian lyre-stones are located at Wanar.
All of the monuments found at Wanar seem to mark burials, according to the archaeologists working there.
Researchers have also determined that the site was a burial ground first, and the stones were added later for ritual uses.
Construction for this area can be narrowed down to between the seventh and fifteenth centuries A.D.
A current dating program that has begun is yielding estimates that date the construction of the double circle to between the twelfth and thirteenth centuries.
A 2008 excavation was conducted on the double circle at Wanar, and two types of burials were distinguished: simple burials that consisted of large pits sealed with a mound, and more complex burials that were deep with narrow mouths.
There was also a presence of perishable materials found in the burials, such as brick and plaster, that suggests the existence of funerary houses built at the time of burial.

Two types of stones were found at Wanar: tall and slender stones that tended to be cylindric; and shorter, squatter, trapezoidal shaped stones as well.
There is a trend found in which frontal lines do not match up with their corresponding circles, which may suggest a chronological order that the monuments were constructed.

There are many other clues to be found at Wanar that can tell about what these monuments originally looked like.
For instance, the inner ring of the double circle features fallen monoliths that all fan out from the center of the monument.
This may suggest, coupled with findings of drystone around the monument, that there used to be drystone beneath the monoliths, and the cylinder made up of the inner ring and drystone was once filled with earth, so that when it collapsed due to outward pressure, the stones all fell outward as well.
This theory is not refuted by the fact that the stones of the outer ring fell in all different directions, lacking outward pressure.

Pottery shards were also found scattered around the site, buried in different layers of earth.
The certain layers in which the pottery was found says that some deposition occurred after the fall of the drystone, but before the collapse of the monoliths.
In other words, pottery may have been deposited at this monument after total and/or partial abandonment of the monoliths.
Overall, the destruction of this double circle was a slow disintegration over time, as opposed to one large and sudden collapse.

Based on all of these findings, researchers have developed a possible model for the funeral activity sequence that took place at Wanar.
The sequence has three distinct phases: Phase one includes cutting the graves in the subsoil with funerary rites, such as covering the graves with mounds; phase two is when the standing stones were raised around the mounds; phase three consisted of erecting frontal stones.
Phase three may also have been when these monuments became sites of ritual activities and ceramics started getting deposited around them.
The creators of this model recognize that other sequences are possible, and the order for the sequence of events at the double circle may have been different as well.
The area of Wanar is located in the Kaffrine district of Senegal, and is made up of 21 stone circles and one double circle. There are also numerous lyre-stones. In fact, one third of all Senegambian lyre-stones are located at Wanar. All of the monuments found at Wanar seem to mark burials, according to the archaeologists working there. Researchers have also determined that the site was a burial ground first, and the stones were added later for ritual uses. Construction for this area can be narrowed down to between the seventh and fifteenth centuries A.D.
A current dating program that has begun is yielding estimates that date the construction of the double circle to between the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. A 2008 excavation was conducted on the double circle at Wanar, and two types of burials were distinguished: simple burials that consisted of large pits sealed with a mound, and more complex burials that were deep with narrow mouths. There was also a presence of perishable materials found in the burials, such as brick and plaster, that suggests the existence of funerary houses built at the time of burial.
Two types of stones were found at Wanar: tall and slender stones that tended to be cylindric; and shorter, squatter, trapezoidal shaped stones as well. There is a trend found in which frontal lines do not match up with their corresponding circles, which may suggest a chronological order that the monuments were constructed.
There are many other clues to be found at Wanar that can tell about what these monuments originally looked like. For instance, the inner ring of the double circle features fallen monoliths that all fan out from the center of the monument. This may suggest, coupled with findings of drystone around the monument, that there used to be drystone beneath the monoliths, and the cylinder made up of the inner ring and drystone was once filled with earth, so that when it collapsed due to outward pressure, the stones all fell outward as well. This theory is not refuted by the fact that the stones of the outer ring fell in all different directions, lacking outward pressure.
Pottery shards were also found scattered around the site, buried in different layers of earth. The certain layers in which the pottery was found says that some deposition occurred after the fall of the drystone, but before the collapse of the monoliths. In other words, pottery may have been deposited at this monument after total and/or partial abandonment of the monoliths. Overall, the destruction of this double circle was a slow disintegration over time, as opposed to one large and sudden collapse.
Based on all of these findings, researchers have developed a possible model for the funeral activity sequence that took place at Wanar. The sequence has three distinct phases: Phase one includes cutting the graves in the subsoil with funerary rites, such as covering the graves with mounds; phase two is when the standing stones were raised around the mounds; phase three consisted of erecting frontal stones. Phase three may also have been when these monuments became sites of ritual activities and ceramics started getting deposited around them. The creators of this model recognize that other sequences are possible, and the order for the sequence of events at the double circle may have been different as well.
Senegambian stone circles