The Balancing Rocks of Matobo
In the hills of southern Zimbabwe, huge granite boulders balance on top of each other in impossible-looking towers, as if placed by giants.
What was reported
The Matobo Hills are a landscape of granite domes and boulders, many of them stacked into precarious towers that look as if a touch could topple them. Caves among the rocks hold thousands of ancient San paintings.
The hills have long been sacred. They hold shrines associated with Mwari, the high god of the Shona and Ndebele, where people came to pray for rain and receive messages.
Explanations offered
The balancing rocks were formed by weathering: over millions of years, rain and heat broke the granite along cracks, and softer rock washed away, leaving harder boulders stacked on each other. The area is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
- When
- Sacred for thousands of years
- Where
- Matobo Hills, Matabeleland South, Zimbabwe
- Witnesses
- Visitors and local communities
- Status
- A real place
Famous cases are real, widely reported events. Each file sets out what witnesses said and the explanations that have been offered, without taking a side.
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