Wassu Stone Circles Travel Guide
Prehistoric World Heritage Site
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The Wassu Stone Circles are located around Wassu in the Central River Division of Gambia and are believed to be burial mounds of Kings and chiefs in ancient times over 1,200 years old, dated between 750 and 1000 AD. The large concentration of circles puzzled travellers for centuries and has been the subject of dozens of archaeological excavations since the 1800's.
Wassu Stone Circles was declared a Gambian National Monument in 1995 and was added to the UNESCO World Heritage list in 2006 as a part of the Senegambian Stone Circles.
The sizes and circular shapes of the stones vary from 10 to 20 stones, with sizes from 4 to 6 metres across. The average height of each stone column is 5 feet 9 inches.
The stones were cut out of laterite that occurs in large quarry outcrops in the Wassu region and then shaped with iron tools into cylindrical or polygonal shapes. A museum situated at the "Stone Circles" in Wassu Central River Division was opened in 2000.
Hundreds of stone circles can be found across The Gambia and Senegambia region. They are part of a geographical grouping of over 1,000 monuments in a wide strip measuring 62 miles wide along 217 miles of the Gambia River.
Getting Around
Taxis are available from Georgetown city.
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