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HERITAGE RECORD · 306

Matobo Hills

马托博山

The official record, selection criteria and sourced cultural context.

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World Heritage record

The area exhibits a profusion of distinctive rock landforms rising above the granite shield that covers much of Zimbabwe. The large boulders provide abundant natural shelters and have been associated with human occupation from the early Stone Age right through to early historical times, and intermittently since. They also feature an outstanding collection of rock paintings. The Matobo Hills continue to provide a strong focus for the local community, which still uses shrines and sacred places closely linked to traditional, social and economic activities.

Open the official UNESCO record

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Selection criteria

This property was inscribed under the following World Heritage Convention criteria.

(iii)A unique or exceptional testimony to a cultural tradition or civilisation.

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Cultural archive

Record lead

UNESCO record lead

Brief synthesis The Matobo Hills some 35 km south of Bulawayo are a profusion of distinctive granite landforms, densely packed into a comparatively tight area, that rise up to form a sea of hills.

Source-led archive lead · 86%Source
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