Mwalaolemba Archeological Site in Thyolo in Bad Shape; Needs Restoration

Mikolongwe Hill is situated in the Southern Part of Malawi in Thyolo District near Nansadi Primary School and at the foot of the hill flows Nansadi River. Mwalaolemba is a rock shelter containing an interesting series of schematic rock paintings. It was declared a protected monument (under section 7 of monuments Act 1965) and it was open to visitors.

According to Cole King, in his article published in the Society of Malawi Journal, a number of rock shelters containing paintings are known in Malawi and undoubtedly many more remain to be discovered.  A few of the paintings are somewhat inferior representation of figures or animals, but the majority are in the geometric or schematic styles consisting of various simple and complex symbols. Paintings of similar styles occur over a wide area, from Mozambique North of the Zambezi, through Malawi, to eastern and northern Zambia and construct with the naturalistic paintings, commonly called “Bushman paintings, which occur south of the Zambezi.

While they may not be so immediately appealing to look at, schematic paintings are nevertheless of great interest and seem to relate to some kind of magico-religious practices on the part of the artists. The meaning of the individual paintings are often obscure to the nowadays, but as similar universally recognized among the people who painted them and cannot be dismissed as idle scribing.

Schematic paintings are most common in well-watered and forested plateau country at about 4000 fee where, until recently, game was abundant. Any smooth, hard rock surface, sheltered from weather by an overhand, may be painted. Dwellings and in the floor debris of these, artifacts and other materials, generally of a “Late Stone Age” type may be found.

In the case of Mwalaolemba, artifacts are nowhere to be found. It is believed that the Akafula were using the cave as their dwelling place.
Between 1960s and 80s, tourists from around the world used to visit the site. The site as stated was a protected monuments under the department of Antiquities. Tourists used to bring their vehicles and park them at Nansadi Primary School then travel about 1.5 km up the hill crossing Nansadi River on foot.

There was a signpost indicating Mwalaolemba, Department of Antiquities but it was vandalized over 20 years ago. The cave was protected by a wire fence which was also destroyed making the site vulnerable to vandalism. Some culprits used rocks to write or scribble what they felt on top of the original paintings. Currently, the place has become a site for religious prayers by various religious groupings who frequent the site to hold their prayers. The site has since been neglected by all stakeholders including government.

Despite the damage, most of the paintings are still intact with some not visible enough and you have to be close enough and pay attention to details of the paintings for one to appreciate. Most of the paintings are geometric or schematic style with some being simple yet some complex. There are paintings of the sun, strokes like fingers among others and almost all of them were painted in red. However, little is known about the materials they were using for the paintings with some people believing the use of animal blood or roots of certain indigenous plants found in the hill.

The place has been neglected for a long time to the extent that communities around the hill are cultivating crops destroying the environment around the site. Some members of the community have decided to construct a church close to the site.

According to our observations there is need for the following to be done on the hill in order to bring back its lost glory;

• To restore, protect, preserve, stabilize and intensify awareness among the surrounding communities. This will in turn promote tourism on the hill for sustainability of the site.
• There is need to identify partners and funders who can help in the restoration, preservation, protection and community awareness through community engagement activities.