Chongoni Rock Art Area

The Chongoni Rock Art Area is a UNESCO World Heritage site in central Malawi that preserves a series of rock paintings and painted shelters on the Dedza Plateau. The area represents a long tradition of rock art associated with different cultural groups and time periods.

Visitors encounter painted rock shelters and panels decorated with motifs made by hunter-gatherer and agricultural communities, illustrating ritual scenes, animal figures and geometric patterns. The dispersed sites form a landscape of painted rocks rather than a single cave, and guided visits typically cover several shelters to illustrate stylistic and chronological differences.

Rock art at Chongoni was produced by successive cultural groups over many centuries, reflecting changes in economy and ritual practice from prehistoric foragers to later farming communities. The area was inscribed as a World Heritage Site for its well-preserved assemblage and its importance to local cultural memory.

The rock art sites are located on the Dedza Plateau in Malawi’s Central Region, inland from the southern lakeshore areas and accessible from the town of Dedza and surrounding rural communities.

• Long chronology: The site includes rock art spanning several cultural periods and remains an important source for understanding local ritual and social history.

What to See #

• Rock shelter network: The property comprises a large number of rock shelters and open-air panels distributed across the Dedza Plateau, representing a continuous record of painted motifs and ritual use.