Upemba Depression or Kamalondo Depression which is more commonly known by its French name Dépression de l'Upemba is a large marshy bowl area (depression

Depression (geology)

A depression in geology is a landform sunken or depressed below the surrounding area. Depressions may be formed by various mechanisms.Structural or tectonic related:...

) in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

Democratic Republic of the Congo

The Democratic Republic of the Congo is a state located in Central Africa. It is the second largest country in Africa by area and the eleventh largest in the world...

 comprising some fifty lakes, including 22 of relatively large size including Lake Upemba

Lake Upemba

Lake Upemba is a lake in Bukama, Haut-Lomami District, the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It, and nearby Lake Kisale, is surrounded by the Upemba Depression in Upemba National Park...

 (530km²) and Lake Kisale (300 km²). In an earlier era, the area was probably occupied by one large lake.

The area is covered in marshland and is partially within the Upemba National Park

Upemba National Park

Upemba National Park is a large park in the Katanga province of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Located in a lush area dotted by lakes, including the eponymous Lake Upemba, and bordered by the Lualaba River, its 11,730 km² dominates the Kibara Plateau....

 in Haut-Lomami District

Haut-Lomami District

Haut-Lomami District is a district located in the Katanga Province, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo....

.

The Upemba Depression has been populated almost continuously since the 5th century AD, and is considered the origin of the Kingdom of Luba

Kingdom of Luba

The Kingdom of Luba or Luba Empire was a pre-colonial Central African state, which arose in the marshy grasslands of the Upemba Depression in what is now southern Democratic Republic of Congo.-Origins:...

 (1585-1889). The area includes many archaeological sites and is on the tentative list for UNESCO world heritage site

World Heritage Site

A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a place that is listed by the UNESCO as of special cultural or physical significance...

.

Roughly translated, the citation for its inclusion as world heritage site states:

This large depression has delivered the largest known cemetery in the sub-Saharan Africa. Over 40 archaeological sites have been identified, but only six have been partially excavated so far. Their study allows to trace the complete sequence of the occupation of the region over two millennia, and thus to reconstruct the history of a major ethnic group of Central Africa: the Luba.

Chronology based on more than 55 radiocarbon dating

Radiocarbon dating

Radiocarbon dating is a radiometric dating method that uses the naturally occurring radioisotope carbon-14 to estimate the age of carbon-bearing materials up to about 58,000 to 62,000 years. Raw, i.e. uncalibrated, radiocarbon ages are usually reported in radiocarbon years "Before Present" ,...

s and thermoluminescence

Thermoluminescence

Thermoluminescence is a form of luminescence that is exhibited by certain crystalline materials, such as some minerals, when previously absorbed energy from electromagnetic radiation or other ionizing radiation is re-emitted as light upon heating of the material...

 shows periods of occupation since the Stone Age

Stone Age

The Stone Age is a broad prehistoric period, lasting about 2.5 million years , during which humans and their predecessor species in the genus Homo, as well as the earlier partly contemporary genera Australopithecus and Paranthropus, widely used exclusively stone as their hard material in the...

.

Major lakes in the depression

• Kabele
• Kabwe
• Kange
• Kisale
• Kalondo
• Kapondwe
• Kasala
• Kayumba
• Kiubo
• Lukonga
• Lunde
• Mulenda
• Muyumbwe
• Noala
• Sanwa
• Tungwe
• Upemba