Ancient site · Rock art
Laas Geel
Also known as Laas Gaal
A group of rock shelters near Hargeisa in Somaliland, recorded by a French team of archaeologists in 2002. Their walls are covered with brightly painted long-horned cattle, some wearing decorative robes, with people standing beside them, as well as a dog, other canines and a giraffe.
They are among the oldest and best-preserved paintings of herding in the Horn of Africa, estimated at about 5,500–4,500 years old.
- Dates
- c. 3500–2500 BCE (estimated)
- Still standing
- Yes
- Location
- 9.78° N, 44.44° E
How we know
No writing existed; the paintings are dated by their style and by finds from the shelters, not by direct tests, so their age is an estimate.
Nearby sites
- Great Dam of Marib 8th century BCE – c. 570s CE
- Matara c. 8th century BCE – 7th century CE (approximate; pre-Aksumite to Aksumite)
- Yeha (Great Temple) temple c. 700 BCE
- Aksum (stelae fields) capital from c. 1st century BCE–1st century CE; great stelae c. 300–400 CE
- Lothagam North Pillar Site c. 3000–2300 BCE
- Meroë c. 800 BCE – 350 CE; royal pyramids c. 300 BCE – 350 CE