View source for Senegambian stone circles

{{Infobox World Heritage Site
| WHS         = Stone Circles of Senegambia
| Image       = [[Image:Wassu2.jpg|200px|Wassu stone circles.]]
| State Party = [[The Gambia|Gambia]] and [[Senegal]]
| Type        = Cultural
| Criteria    = i, iii
| ID          = 1226
| Region      = [[List of World Heritage Sites in Africa|Africa]]
| Year        = 2006
| Session     = 30th
| Link        = http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1226
}}
[[Image:Wassu Stone Cirles shaunamullally 01.jpg|200px|left|thumb]]
The '''[[Senegambia (geography)|Senegambian]] stone circles''' lie in [[Gambia]] north of [[Janjanbureh]] and in central [[Senegal]]. Coordinates: 13° 41 N – 15° 31 W. 

Approximate area: 15,000 square miles (39,000&nbsp;km²). They are sometimes divided into the [[Wassu]] (Gambian) and [[Sine-Saloum]] (Senegalese) circles, but this is purely a national division.

The stones were erected around the eighth century on top of earlier [[Grave (burial)|grave]]s.  The ten to twenty-four stones in each circle vary in size up to ten-ton stones, from 1 to 2.5 metres high and are generally of [[laterite]].  The stones mark [[burial]]s and were erected before the twelfth century.  There are around 1,000 [[stone circle]]s, the biggest concentration being more than 1,000 stones in fifty-two circles at [[Djalloumbéré]] and those around the village of [[Wassu]], which has a [[museum]] devoted to them.  One notable circle is actually a V formation.  Traditionally, for unknown reasons, people leave small rocks on the stones. The use to which the stones were put is not clear but recent excavation work (2006), reported by the [[National Geographic Society]], suggests a funerary purpose given the large number of human remains found at the sites. Archaeologists at the site are pursuing the theory that different parts of a body were buried at different sites and at different times. <ref>A National Geographic podcast is available at [http://podcast.nationalgeographic.com/ng-video-shorts/]. Select the episode entitled 'Senegal: Monuments', dated 11 August 2006 (if your browser does not have a RSS  'news reader' built-in, then copy the link into iTunes and subscribe to the feed).</ref>

On 21 July 2006, the [[stone circle]]s were added to the [[World Heritage List]].  They are described by [[UNESCO]] as :
{{cquote|consisting of four large groups of stone circles that represent an extraordinary concentration of over 1,000 monuments in a band 100&nbsp;km wide along some 350&nbsp;km of the [[River Gambia]]. The four groups, Sine Ngayène, Wanar, [[Wassu]] and Kerbatch cover 93 stone circles and numerous tumuli, burial mounds, some of which have been excavated to reveal material that suggest dates between 3rd century BC and 16th century AD.

Together the stone circles of [[laterite]] pillars and their associated burial mounds present a vast sacred landscape created over more than 1,500 years. It reflects a prosperous, highly organized and lasting society. The stones were quarried with iron tools and skillfully shaped into almost identical cylindrical or polygonal seven-ton pillars, on average about two metres high. Each circle contains between 8 and 14 pillars and is 4 to 6 metres across. All are located near the [[burial mounds]]. This outstanding site is representative of a much wider [[megalithic]] zone in the region, which in terms of size, consistency, and complexity appears to be unrivalled anywhere in the world. The finely worked individual stones display precise and skillful working practices and contribute to the imposing order and grandeur of the overall complexes.<ref>[http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1226 Stone Circles of Senegambia – UNESCO World Heritage Centre]</ref>}}

==Builders==
These megaliths were built by the ancestors of the Serer people or the Jola.<ref>[[Henry Gravrand|Gravrand, Henry]], "La Civilisation Sereer - ''[[Pangool]]''", Les Nouvelles Editions [[Africa]]ines du [[Senegal]], 1990, p  77, ISBN 2-7236-1055-1</ref><ref>Gambian Studies No. 17., "People of The Gambia. I. The Wolof with notes on the Serer and the Lebou", By David P. Gamble & Linda K. Salmon with Alhaji Hassan Njie, [[San Francisco]] (1985)</ref><ref name="Serer-Jola">Espie, Ian, "A thousand years of West African history: a handbook for teachers and students", Editors : J. F. Ade Ajayi, Ian Espie, Humanities Press (1972), p 134, ISBN 0391002171</ref><ref>{{fr}} Becker, Charles: "Vestiges historiques, trémoins matériels du passé clans les pays sereer". Dakar. 1993. CNRS - ORS TO M [http://horizon.documentation.ird.fr/exl-doc/pleins_textes/pleins_textes_5/b_fdi_01/010014636.pdf] (Excerpt) (Retrieved : 28 June 2012)</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Hughes|first=Arnold|title=Historical Dictionary of The Gambia|year=4th revised edition, 2008|publisher=Scarecrow Press|isbn=978-0810858251|coauthors=David Perfect|page=xix}}</ref> The stones are believed to have parallels with the [[stele]]s of [[Roog]] (the supreme deity in [[Serer religion]]) built by the [[States headed by ancient Serer Lamanes|ancient Serers]] in veneration of their god.<ref name="Serer-Pangool">Gravrand, "Pangool", pp 197-8</ref> The steles of Roog represents the axis of the world in [[Serer creation myth|Serer cosmogony]].<ref name="Serer-Pangool"/> They are arranged according to the tenets of [[Religious symbolism|Serer religious symbolism]], and form part of some of the most [[:Category:Serer holy places|sacred Serer sites]].<ref name="Serer-Pangool"/>  Scholars like [[Henry Gravrand]] as well as [[Cheikh Anta Diop]] (who among others referred to it as the [[Serer religion#Mummification and Cult of the Upright Stones|Serer cult of upright stones]]<ref name>[[Cheikh Anta Diop|Diop, Cheikh Anta]], "The African origin of civilization: myth or reality", L. Hill (1974), p 196, ISBN 0-88208-021-0</ref>) notes that, the steles of Roog are still built by modern day Serers though in a much smaller scale i.e. in people's homes.<ref name="Serer-Pangool"/>

==See also==
*[[Cekeen Tumulus]]
*[[History of Senegal]]
*[[History of the Gambia]]

==References==
{{Reflist|2}}
==Bibliography==
*[http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1226 Stone Circles of Senegambia – UNESCO World Heritage Centre]
*[[Henry Gravrand|Gravrand, Henry]], "La Civilisation Sereer - ''[[Pangool]]''", Les Nouvelles Editions Africaines du Senegal, 1990,  ISBN 2-7236-1055-1
*Espie, Ian, "A thousand years of West African history: a handbook for teachers and students", Editors : J. F. Ade Ajayi, Ian Espie, Humanities Press (1972), p 134, ISBN 0391002171
*Becker, Charles: "Vestiges historiques, trémoins matériels du passé clans les pays sereer". Dakar. 1993. CNRS - ORS TO M  {{fr}} [http://horizon.documentation.ird.fr/exl-doc/pleins_textes/pleins_textes_5/b_fdi_01/010014636.pdf (Excerpt)] -  (Retrieved : 10 July 2012)
*[[Cheikh Anta Diop|Diop, Cheikh Anta]], "The African origin of civilization: myth or reality", L. Hill (1974), p 196, ISBN 0-88208-021-0
*[[Godfrey Mwakikagile|Mwakikagile, Godfrey]], "Ethnic Diversity and Integration in The Gambia: The Land, The People and The Culture," (2010), p 241, ISBN 9987-9322-2-3
*Abbey, M T Rosalie Akouele, "Customary Law and Slavery in [[West Africa]]", Trafford Publishing (2011), pp 481-482, ISBN 1-4269-7117-6
*Gambian Studies No. 17., "People of The Gambia. I. The Wolof with notes on the Serer and the Lebou", By David P. Gamble & Linda K. Salmon with Alhaji Hassan Njie, San Francisco (1985)
*Hughes, Arnold; David Perfect (4th revised edition, 2008). Historical Dictionary of [[The Gambia]]. [[Scarecrow Press]]. p. xix. ISBN 978-0810858251.


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