page_title: Tsodilo
section_title: Depression Rock Shelter Site
hierarchical_section_title: Tsodilo / Archaeology / Depression Rock Shelter Site
caption_attribution_description: English: Rock paintings in Tsodilo Hills, Botswana
context_page_description: The Tsodilo Hills are a UNESCO World Heritage Site, consisting of rock art, rock shelters, depressions, and caves. It gained its WHS listing in 2001 because of its unique religious and spiritual significance to local peoples, as well as its unique record of human settlement over many millennia. UNESCO estimates there are over 4500 rock paintings at the site. The site consists of a few main hills known as the Child Hill, Female Hill, and Male Hill.
context_section_description: Located on the northwest side of the Female Hill, this site gets its name from the depressions that have been ground into the shelter walls. Accompanying these marks  are red paintings of what appear to be cattle, as well as geometrics. The rock shelter site, dated from charcoal samples, had its earliest occupation at least 30,000 years ago. Excavations dug up LSA stone tools and Iron Age artifacts. Pottery found in the deepest layers was dated to the first century, and is affiliated with the oldest stone artifacts found in this area. Mongongo nut shells were also uncovered in the various deposits, including the deepest layers, which makes them the oldest mongongo nuts ever found in archaeological context.
caption: Red painting of a rhino
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