A UNESCO World Heritage site since 2011, the 230km2 Konso Cultural Landscape is named after its agriculturist inhabitants, who have molded their homeland of Semi-arid hills in to a productive
network of flat terraced fields through the construction and maintenance of centuries- old dry-stone contour walls. It is these walls that maximize soil retention and collection of precious rain water. The most striking feature of Konso Cultural Landscape is its ancient hilltop paleta(terrace walled villages) –strange hobbit-warrents, towered over by generation poles felled from a sacred forest, and studded with curvaceous thatched community houses – that arguably rank as the most beautiful traditional African settlements in Sub-Saharan Africa. The Konso are also renowned for their waka grave-markers, anthropomorphic hardwood statues carved to mimic the deceased, and for their communally constructed hard reservoir, which are maintained by very specific social and cultural practices. Situated in the far south of Ethiopia, Konso is a fascinating destination in its own right, but more so perhaps when visited in combination with and contrasted against neighboring South Omo, a region that supports some of the most staunchly traditionalist and pastoralist cultures remaining in Africa.
Konso Cultural Landscape is a 55km2 arid property of stone walled terraces and fortified settlements in the Konso highlands of Ethiopia. It constitutes a spectacular example of a living cultural tradition stretching back 21 generations (more than 400 years) adapted to its dry hostile environment. The landscape demonstrates the shared values, social cohesion and engineering knowledge of its communities. The site also features anthropomorphic wooden statues - grouped to represent respected members of their communities and particularly heroic events - which are an exceptional living testimony to funerary traditions that are on the verge of disappearing. Stone steles in the towns express a complex system of marking the passing of generations of leaders.
The Konso Cultural Landscape is characterized by extensive dry stone terraces bearing witness to the persistent human struggle to use and harness the hard, dry and rocky environment. The terraces retain the soil from erosion, collect a maximum of water, discharge the excess, and create terraced fields that are used for agriculture. The terraces are the main features of the Konso landscape and the hills are contoured with the dry stone walls, which at places reach up to 5 meters in height.
Konso Villages and Lifestyle
The traditional paleta villages of the Konso emphasise defensive structures. Located on hills or other elevated positions each village is encircled by up to six concentric dry – stone basalt walls that stand up to 4 meters high and are entered only through two or more ceremonial gates. Each family compound within a village is enclosed by a tall wood and stone fence, and most are terraced, with the ground floor is living area for the people. A village is divided in to a number of kanta subcommittees, each with its own mora(community house), a striking open-sided thatched construction where elders convene to discuss administrative issues, a young men sleep communally at night, as do guests. The oldest mora in a village usually stands alongside a small common where an additional olahita (generation pole) is erected every 18 years to mark the initiation of a ne kata generation-set. In some villages, the exploits of celebrated age-sets have been commemorated by the erection of a stone obelisk called a daga-hela a custom that makes Konso one of the world’s last existing megalithic cultures.
Waka
A notable feature of Konso society is the unique wooden waka grave-markers that are traditionally erected at the burial place of an important Konso man or of any warrior who has killed one or more enemies in a battle, or dangerous animals such as Lions or Leopards, often referred to by outsiders as totems, the waka are rather impressionistic statues made from juniper or ocacia wood, and they are carved by dedicated sculptors who adorn them with facial features mimicking the person whose grave they will mark. Often, the statue also incorporates teeth made from animal bones, and it will be surrounded by smaller statues of the deceased’s wives and defeated enemies. A waka that falls or is temporarily removed will never be re-erected, since the Konso believe that a man can only be buried once. For this reason, around 200 waka that were confiscated by the local authorities, after being looted by collectors, are now displayed in the Konso museum on the outskirts of Karat-Konso.
On to South Omo
Frequently visited in conjunction with the Konso Cultural Landscape, South Omo is home to more than a dozen linguistically – diverse cultural groups renowned for their staunch adherence to traditional African customs. The people of South Omo include the Mursi; the Hamer whose young men must perform a terrifying bull-jumping rituals as an initiation to adulthood; and the Karo, celebrated for their masterful body painting. The small towns of South Omo are best visited on their specific market days, which usually attract a culturally diverse mix of colorfully-adorned villagers from miles around. Also set with in South Omo, the undeveloped and little-visited Lower Omo UNESCO World Heritage Site protects a region that has yielded a number of important paleontological sites close to Lake Turkana.