Archaeological Sites Uganda

Archaeological Sites Uganda  : There are several historical archaeological sites in Uganda many of which are caves that served as shelters for the Iron Age man and the Bushmen. The prime caves for tourism are easily accessible as they occur mostly in the western and southern parts of the country. Most earthworks of Uganda are characterised primarily by ditches up to five metres deep and about a metre wide at the bottom, sloping outwards to several metres wide at the top. The trenches often extend for several hundred metres in a curved line that sometimes forms a semi-circle. Some ditches are associated with embankments constructed from the earth and rock removed from within the trench. Earthen causeways cross many ditches.  A couple of sites possess artificial mounds associated with the ditches. The earthworks widely spread: some are on or close to the southern banks of rivers; some around, at least to some extent, a hill, though the hill itself may not be a particularly prominent feature of the local terrain. Others occur on flat grounds. Below are some of the many archaeological sites Uganda has to offer;

Bigo Bya Mugyenyi archaeological site

Bigo Bya Mugyenyi site is a 10 square kilometres series of archaeological earthworks with an inner royal enclosure. It is built on a small hill and used to protect Mugyenyi’s cattle. It has many ditches with some as deep as five metres and by far the most extensive and most essential earthworks excavated by the Chwezi. The Chwezi people had a short-lived two-reign dynasty led by Ndahura and Wamala. The oral traditions also associate the Chwezi with the introduction of the Ankole-watutsi.

Archaeological Sites Uganda
Bigo Bya Mugyenyi

Bigo Bya Mugyenyi is at the confluence of the Katonga and Kakinga rivers. Oral traditions suggest that the earthworks were set up to protect the eastern extreme of the Chwezi Empire against the Luo upstarts from South Sudan. The king himself moved to Bigo and made it his capital. Bigo Bya Mugyenyi means ‘Fort of the Stranger’. We also continue to learn that Mugyeni was the name of the Chwezi prince who was responsible for excavating the earthworks.

The Munsa archaeological site

The Munsa earthworks are the second largest in Uganda. They consist of a network of deep trenches; said to have been constructed as defensive structures, surrounding Bikegete Hill, a prominent granite outcrop riddled with tunnels and caves. The name Munsa is derived from the Runyoro expression Mu-ensa, meaning ‘place of trenches’.

Munsa is also linked to the Chwezi, and the tradition responsible is vindicated by archaeological evidence suggesting that the earthworks and occupation at Bikekete Hill date back to the 14th century. Archaeologists also concur with the traditional convention that the ruler of Munsa lived within Bukekete Hill, in a cave large enough to seat about 50 people. It is probable that the surrounding earthworks, which are up to seven-metre wide and three metres deep and were excavated in a V-shape making them difficult to cross, were fortifications to protect the rocky royal stronghold.

Recent archaeological studies at Bukekete Hill discovered an intact clay furnace used for smelting iron, glass beads, suggesting some trade link with the coastal Swahili and what a royal burial ground was presumably. One of the skeletons at Bukekete was discovered beneath a second, inverted Skelton. This, almost certainly, would have been a royal burial – it was the rather grisly custom that a king should be buried below one of his servants, the later buried alive so that he could take after his master.

Ntusi archaeological site

Ntusi site is different from all other earthworks since it lacks the ditch system. It boasts a large basin surrounded by mounds which are often referred to as dams, as well as other mounds elsewhere on the site. Some of the mounds at Ntusi are older than the ditch systems at other earthwork sites. The most notable of the mounds are locally known as the male and female. Excavations have shown them to be a massive pile of bones, pottery shards and other waste material. In essence, they are substantial refuse heaps, deposited over 300 years during the first half of the second millennium AD. The name Ntusi means mounds. There are several scraped depressions around the village, the largest of which, the twenty metres deep Bwogero depression, lies a hundred and 50 metres from the male mound. Bwogero was probably a part of an extensive irrigation system, traces of which exist today.

Semwama Hill Caves of Uganda

This flat-topped granite outcrop contains a network of shelters and caves that are traditionally held sacred by the local people and also provided them refuge against invaders. The most accessible cave consists of two main chambers, known locally as “ebidongobo” or waiting rooms which are sometimes used as an overnight shelter for cattle.

Within the chambers lies an ancient Chwezi shrine where offerings of leaves, seeds and straw can still be seen. The cave is said to have been where Kateboha of Munsa once held council with his elders and advisors, sitting above them on the flat slab of stone in the main chamber. From this opening you can scramble up a succession of rock chimneys, assisted in one or two places by rough ladders, then a near-vertical rock face to the top of the hill.

The Garama Caves in Mgahinga national park

The Garama Cave is located in Kisoro district in Mgahinga Gorilla National Park as aresult of lava result. Garama measures 342 metres from entry to exit. It is fourteen metres deep, and it is the most ideal for Underground Caving in Uganda. Its history in the past 2000 years cannot be told so well without the inclusion of the Twa people of Uganda. The crafty Twa are the most ancient inhabitants of interlacustrine Africa and easily distinguished from other Ugandans by their unusually shot Stature. They seldom exceed one and a half metres in height metres, and they are paler, more bronzed complexion. Garama Cave which was covered by the forest was used for the retreat by the ancient Twa after fights and raids on their Bantu ethnicity neighbours.

Archaeological Sites Uganda
The Garama Caves in Mgahinga national park

Nsongezi Rock Shelter

This is one of the most important Stone Age sites in Uganda. A series of excavations in the shelter have yielded a large number of stratified pottery shards dating from around AD 1000 into the 19th century, collectively representing the full range of styles characteristics of the period. Nsongezi Rock Shelter is located along the Kagera River, being neighboured by Kansyoke Island which is also a late Stone Age site.

Amabere Ga Nyinamwiru caves

The stalactites and stalagmites which met in the middle, actively support this cave. Local tradition has it that whoever touches these formations will get lost in the caves or be visited by misfortune. Amabere ga Nyinamwiru means Breasts of Nyinamwiru – and refers to a live stalactite formation supposedly shaped like a pair of breasts.

According to tradition, Nyinamwiru was the daughter of a king, so beautiful that no man could leave her alone and continuously plagued by marital proposals from unsuitable suitors. Bukuku –the king cut off Nyinamwiru breasts in the hope they would reduce her charms, but even this was not enough to deter his lovely daughter’s admirers, so eventually, he hid her away in the caves. While there, Nyinamwiru was impregnated by the Tembuzi king, Isaza to give birth to Ndahura, the future founder of the Chwezi dynasty, and –lacking breasts herself –She fed the infant with cloudy limestone ‘milk’ that drips from the breast-like stalactites.

Nyero Rock paintings

Nyero Rock Paintings are strongly recommended for anybody with interest in archaeology or human prehistory. The paintings are most cases monochromatic, consisting –typically either red or white. The site consists of three discrete panels, all of which lie in a few hundred metres of each other. The most impressive is the second panel which covers a six-metre-high rock face reached via a narrow cleft between two immense boulders. At least 40 sets of red concentric circles are partially or wholly visible on the front, as is one ‘acacia pod’. At the top right are the paintings of three Zebras.

Archaeological Sites Uganda
Nyero Rock Paintings

The most striking naturalistic figures on the panel are two large canoes, of which one is about one and a half metre long and carrying people. Group One is somewhat less elaborate: six sets of white concentric circles, as well as a few ‘acacia pods’ figure panels Three consists of just one white set of concentric circles on the roof of a low rock shelter.

The Nyero Rock Paintings must be at least 300 years old and are possibly much earlier. There are similar rock paintings in Kaberamaido, Karamoja, Pallisa, Ngora, Kakoro, Obwin Rock, Nshenyi, Lolui Island (Lake Kyoga) and Dolwe Island (Lake Victoria).

In conclusion, these are some of a few Archaeological sites one can visit in Uganda. Others include; Nyabingi Cult, Kibero Salt Gardens, Nakayima Tree, Sempaya Hot Springs, Kasubi Tombs, Mparo Tombs, Jinja Kaloli Caves, Ngarama Cave, Nyakasura Cave.