The area exhibits a pro­fu­sion of dis­tinc­tive rock land­forms ris­ing above the gran­ite shield that cov­ers much of Zim­bab­we. The large boul­ders pro­vide abun­dant nat­ur­al shel­ters and have been asso­ci­at­ed with human occu­pa­tion from the ear­ly Stone Age right through to ear­ly his­tor­i­cal times, and inter­mit­tent­ly since. They also fea­ture an out­stand­ing col­lec­tion of rock paint­ings. The Mato­bo Hills con­tin­ue to pro­vide a strong focus for the local com­mu­ni­ty, which still uses shrines and sacred places close­ly linked to tra­di­tion­al, social and eco­nom­ic activ­i­ties.