Konso stone terraces and walled villages
Terrazas de piedra y aldeas amuralladas de Konso
- Date
- c. 1600 · confidence low
- Place
- Konso, Southern Nations, Ethiopia
- Credited to
- Konso people
- Field
- Life & health
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What it is
The Konso farm arid slopes with stone terraces that hold soil and water, inside walled villages with communal squares. It sustains agriculture of sorghum, maize and cotton with one of the highest population densities in Ethiopia.
UNESCO speaks of some 21 generations, about 400 years, based on oral tradition; there are no precise archaeological dates for the terraces.
What it led to
- intensive agriculture in a semi-arid zone
- wooden funerary statues (waga)
- UNESCO World Heritage listing (2011)