The Senegambia region is actually home to the largest concentration of stone circles in the world. The WHS is made up of four different inscribed areas. We visited Sine Ngayène in Senegal which is located about 15 km from the Gambian border at Farefenni/ Medina Saback. This is the densest cluster of stones and it also features a double circle, evidence of burials and nearby is the quarry from which the rocks were originally hewn, (ICOMOS states that it wants these quarry sites to be included in an extended site, I think it would be an exceptionally worthy extension.)

The site itself sits just outside the village of Sine Ngayène. The advisory body report talks about the great addition of a small information/ visitors centre and fences around the outside to protect the stones from grazing animals. When we arrived in the village it soon turned out that the visitors centre was not open. We were then quickly joined by the majority of the male population of the village. They had possession of the key from the village elder and we proceeded to negotiate an entrance fee, we ended up paying 10,000 CFA (€15 approx in Dec. 2009). I don’t think they received that many visitors, and quickly took an interest in the “luxuries” we had, I have never seen someone so interested in an Advisory body report or set of maps, and they quickly shuffled these away, seemingly more interested in the paper than its content. They turned out to be very informative and friendly guides to the site.

When we got into the site it was clear that the lack of grazing animals had led to the site getting very overgrown. The grass has reached waist height, and as the stones were not much taller than this you could only really see the tops of some of them. The locals then proceeded to give us a very detailed tour of the circles (it was in Wolof so having someone who could translate would work out to be exceedingly useful in fact almost a necessity when visiting the site). They highlighted the discoveries made by teams of archaeologists, as well as the local ideas about their origins and uses. They spent a large amount of time explaining the double circle at the centre of the site, explaining that there were bodies and a large amount of funerary goods buried with it. It was local custom to believe this was the burial of a King. In another part of the site they showed us several tumuli where more indiscriminate burials took place; our guides suggested this was just less noble people however there are also thoughts that it could be the result of a plague or even human sacrifice.

As Paul states these sites are not as majestic in size as Stonehenge however there is a very large concentration of them in this area and it is also a fairly unique in African terms as there are few monuments of this age in this part of the world, reflective of the migratory nature of the peoples of West Africa. Indeed the people who now inhabit this area are in no way related to those that built it. This therefore means that knowledge of the reason for their construction and original use cannot be confirmed.

This was an exceptionally rewarding trip, it was a chance for us to see a small area of rural West Africa devoid of running water and paved roads. It is the densest cluster of stone circles inthe world and the site at Sine Ngayène is the largest single site, also nearby is the quarry from which they were hewn, therefore there is no doubting the validity of its place on the list.

There was a small concern about the management of the site. It was all but derelict, the locals were unhappy about the distribution of funds from ticket receipts, (they didn’t receive that many visitors anyway due to their remote location) and pretty much went on strike. They have tentatively agreed to maintain the site and have already clear a small corner of it of long grass. However many of the stones are somewhat obscured by the overgrown pasture. Once this is pruned back it should hopefully reveal the full glory of the site.

I could write much more about the unique visit we paid to this site however I don't want to go on too long if you are interested in the logistics of getting to it then I will post some details on the forum