Laas Geel

Laas Geel is a group of rock shelters on the rural edge of Hargeisa, in Somaliland, in the Horn of Africa. Ten rock alcoves are painted with some of the earliest known pictures of domesticated African cattle in the region.

The paintings are estimated to be between about 4,500 and 5,500 years old. They show decorated cows and bulls, wild animals, and herders, who are believed to be the artists. The art is in an excellent state of preservation, and its colours are still vivid. It is done in the same distinctive Ethiopian-Arabian style as the paintings at Dhambalin and Karinhegane, which are also in Somaliland.

How was it discovered?

Local people had known about the place for centuries, but it became known to the world in November and December 2002, when a French team of researchers carried out an archaeological survey in Somaliland. They were searching for rock shelters that could tell them about the time when herding appeared in this part of the Horn of Africa, between about 5,000 and 2,000 BCE.

What did scientists do next?

In November 2003 a team of experts returned to Laas Geel to study the paintings carefully in the setting of their prehistoric world. The animals look like they wear decorations and are shown with great care. Somaliland has many other archaeological and megalithic sites like it. The paintings share their style with those at Dhambalin and Karinhegane. Laas Geel is also spelled Laas Gaal.

On the globe

The model shows granite rock shelters with colourful paintings of cattle and herders. Look for the painted cows.