Rock Art Recording and Documentation in Ikungi, Singida (Tanzania)

Abstract

Although several research projects on rock art have been conducted in northern Tanzania, the Lake region and central Tanzania in the past, none of them has discovered cupule and gong features. Also, these early research undertakings did not document and interpret the rock engravings, cupules, hollows and gongs from the local people’s perspectives. This study sought to fill that gap through a fresh look at the rock art. It investigated and recorded ten sites in Singida region, and collected oral accounts from the local people. The fieldwork entailed systematic reconnaissance surveys which helped to discover and document more rock art sites that were not known by the scientific community as well as by the locals. Ethnographic inquiries were conducted to explore the varied meanings of the noted artistic features within the culture of the communities associated with them. Although the neighbouring Kondoa rock art sites are on the UNESCO World Heritage List, no single study has hitherto reported cupules and gongs rock engravings. Thus, this research is the first to report and discuss in detail the occurrence, types, and spread of rock paintings together with the engravings of the Singida region.