Great Zimbabwe

Short description: Ruins of an ancient/medieval city in southeast Zimbabwe

Great ZimbabweFile:Conical Tower - Great Enclosure III (33736918448).jpg

Tower in the Great Enclosure, Great Zimbabwe

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Location| Masvingo Province, Zimbabwe
Coordinates|  [ ⚑ ] : 20°16′S 30°56′E﻿ / ﻿20.267°S 30.933°E﻿ / -20.267; 30.933
Type| Settlement
Part of| Kingdom of Great Zimbabwe
Area| 7.22 km2 (2.79 sq mi)
History
Material| Granite
Founded| 11th century CE
Abandoned| 16th or 17th century
Periods| Late Iron Age
Cultures| Kingdom of Great Zimbabwe

UNESCO World Heritage Site

Official name| Great Zimbabwe National Monument
Criteria| Cultural: i, iii, vi
Reference| 364
Inscription| 1986 (10th session)

Great Zimbabwe was a city in the south-eastern hills of the modern country of Zimbabwe, near Masvingo. It was settled from around 1000 CE, and served as the capital of the Kingdom of Great Zimbabwe from the 13th century. It is the largest stone structure in precolonial Southern Africa. Major construction on the city began in the 11th century until the 15th century, and it was abandoned in the 16th or 17th century.[1][2][3] The edifices were erected by ancestors of the Shona people, currently located in Zimbabwe and nearby countries.[4] The stone city spans an area of 7.22 square kilometres (2.79 sq mi). Population estimates vary. Earlier estimates suggest a peak population of around 20,000 people. A recent study using archaeological, ethnographic, and historical evidence, along with statistical modeling suggests that the sites population did not exceed 10,000 people.[5] The Zimbabwe state centred on it likely covered 50,000 km² (19,000 sq mi).[3] It is recognised as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.

The site of Great Zimbabwe is composed of the Hill Complex, the Valley Complex, and the Great Enclosure (constructed at different times), and contained area for commoner housing within the perimeter walls. There is disagreement on the functions of the complexes among scholars. Some consider them to have been residences for the royals and elites at different periods of the site, while others infer them to have had separate functions. The Great Enclosure, with its 11 m (36 ft) high dry stone walls (that is, constructed without mortar), was built during the 13th and 14th centuries, and likely served as the royal residence, with demarcated public spaces for rituals.[3]

The first confirmed visits by Europeans were in the late 19th century, with investigations of the site starting in 1871.[6] Great Zimbabwe and surrounding sites were looted by European antiquarians between the 1890s and 1920s. Some later studies of the monument were controversial, as the white government of Rhodesia pressured archaeologists to deny its construction by black Africans. Its African origin only became consensus by the 1950s. Great Zimbabwe has since been adopted as a national monument by the Zimbabwean government, and the modern independent state was named after it.

The word great distinguishes the site from the many smaller ruins, known as "zimbabwes", or "houses of stone", spread across the Zimbabwe Highveld.[7] More than 400 sites[8] have been identified across Southern Africa, such as Bumbusi in Zimbabwe and Manyikeni in Mozambique, with monumental, mortarless walls.[9]

## Contents

* 1 Name
* 2 History and description
* 2.1 Settlement
* 2.2 Construction and growth
* 2.3 Features of the ruins
* 2.4 Notable artefacts
* 2.5 Trade
* 2.6 Gold working
* 2.7 Decline
* 3 History of research and origins of the ruins
* 3.1 From Portuguese traders to Karl Mauch
* 3.2 Early European Rediscovery and Biblical Interpretations
* 3.3 Looting and Early Destruction of the Site
* 3.4 Early Excavations and Possible Non African Origins
* 3.5 The Lemba
* 3.6 First Scientific Excavations
* 3.7 Archaeological Confirmation of African Origins
* 3.8 Modern Archaeological Consensus and Dating Evidence
* 3.9 Gokomere
* 3.10 Recent research
* 3.11 Damage to the ruins
* 4 Political implications
* 5 Local perspectives
* 6 Great Zimbabwe Hotel
* 7 Great Zimbabwe University
* 8 Gallery
* 9 Notes
* 10 See also
* 11 References
* 12 Sources
* 13 External links

## Name

The conical tower inside the Great Enclosure at Great Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe is the Shona name of the ruins, first recorded in 1531 by Vicente Pegado, captain of the Portuguese garrison of Sofala. Pegado noted that "The natives of the country call these edifices Symbaoe, which according to their language signifies 'court'".[10]

The name contains dzimba, the Shona term for 'houses'. There are two theories for the etymology of the name. The first proposes that the word is derived from Dzimba-dze-mabwe, translated from Shona as 'large houses of stone' (dzimba = plural of imba, 'house'; mabwe = plural of ibwe, 'stone').[11] A second suggests that Zimbabwe is a contracted form of dzimba-hwe, which means 'venerated houses' in the Zezuru dialect of Shona, as usually applied to the houses or graves of chiefs.[12]

## History and description

Overview of Great Zimbabwe. The large walled construction is the Great Enclosure. Some remains of the valley complex can be seen in front of it. File:140 of 'The Ruined Cities of Mashonaland- being a record of excavation and exploration in 1891 ... With a chapter on the orientation and mensuration of the temples by R. M. W. Swan. (With plates.)' (11217936264).jpgPlan of the complex (first published in J.T. Bent's Ruined Cities of Mashonaland, London, 1892, after p. 121).

### Settlement

The Great Zimbabwe area was previously settled by the San dating back 100,000 years,[lower-alpha 1] and, starting around 150 BCE, by Bantu-speaking peoples who formed agricultural chiefdoms starting in the 4th century CE.[14]: 11–12 Between the 4th and the 7th centuries, communities of the Gokomere or Ziwa cultures farmed the valley, and mined and worked iron, but built no stone structures.[9][15] These are the earliest Iron Age settlements in the area identified from archaeological diggings, and the later Gumanye people are considered the ancestors of the Karanga (south-central Shona),[lower-alpha 2] who would construct Great Zimbabwe.[17][18]

### Construction and growth

Construction of the stone buildings started in the 11th century and continued for over 300 years.[19] Agriculture and cattle played a key role in developing a vital social network, and served to "enfranchise management of goods and services distributed as benefits within traditional political and social institutions", while long distance trade was crucial for the transformation of localised organisations into regional ones.[20] The ruling dynasty used their wealth to make houses out of thick daga (earthen daub), rather than daga and poles, and built stone walls to shield themselves from public view.[21]: 42 The aforementioned process advanced rapidly in the 13th century, and saw the construction of large dry-stone walls.[22]

The ruins at Great Zimbabwe are some of the oldest and largest structures located in Southern Africa. Its most formidable edifice, commonly referred to as the Great Enclosure, has walls as high as 11 m (36 ft) extending approximately 250 m (820 ft). Its growth has been linked to the decline of Mapungubwe from around 1300, or the greater availability of gold in the hinterland of Great Zimbabwe.[23] The institutionalisation of Great Zimbabwe's politico-religious ideology served to legitimise the position of the king (mambo), with a link between leaders, their ancestors, and God.[24][25] According to Ken Mufuka the shrine in the Hill Complex was the home of spirit mediums (svikiro) who were tasked with acting as the conscience of the state, and preserving the traditions of the founders, who he says were Chigwagu Rusvingo (the first mambo), Chaminuka, Chimurenga, Tovera, and Soro-rezhou among others.[26]

Aerial view of the Great Enclosure and Valley Complex, looking west

Traditional estimates are that Great Zimbabwe had as many as 18,000 inhabitants at its peak.[27] However, a more recent survey concluded that the population likely never exceeded 10,000.[28] The ruins that survive are built entirely of stone; they span 730 ha (1,800 acres). Great Zimbabwe covered a similar area to medieval London; while the density of buildings within the stone enclosures was high, in areas outside them it was much lower.[3] The majority of the population lived in houses made out of mud on wooden frame structures,[24] however the number of these can only be estimated. It is equally assumed that the stone structures were royal or official buildings, and elite dwellings. No burials have been found at the site to give another basis for estimating population.[28]

### Features of the ruins

In 1531, Vicente Pegado, Captain of the Portuguese Garrison of Sofala, described Zimbabwe thus:[10]

> Among the gold mines of the inland plains between the Limpopo and Zambezi rivers there is a fortress built of stones of marvelous size, and there appears to be no mortar joining them ... This edifice is almost surrounded by hills, upon which are others resembling it in the fashioning of stone and the absence of mortar, and one of them is a tower more than 12 fathoms [22 m] high. The natives of the country call these edifices Symbaoe, which according to their language signifies court.

— Vicente Pegado

View west from the Eastern Enclosure of the Hill Complex, showing the granite boulder that resembles the Zimbabwe Bird and the balcony.

The ruins form three distinct architectural groups. They are known as the Hill Complex, the Valley Complex and the Great Enclosure. The Hill Complex is the oldest, and was occupied from the 11th to 13th centuries. The Great Enclosure was occupied from the 13th to 15th centuries, and the Valley Complex from the 14th to 16th centuries.[9] Notable features of the Hill Complex include the Eastern Enclosure, in which it is thought the Zimbabwe Birds stood, a high balcony enclosure overlooking the Eastern Enclosure, and a huge boulder in a shape similar to that of the Zimbabwe Bird.[29] The Great Enclosure is composed of an inner wall, encircling a series of structures and a younger outer wall. The Conical Tower, 5.5 m (18 ft) in diameter and 9 m (30 ft) high, was constructed between the two walls.[30] The Valley Complex is divided into the Upper and Lower Valley Ruins, with different periods of occupation.[9]

Aerial view looking southeast, Hill Complex in foreground Detail of the wall with lichen, 1975.

There are different archaeological interpretations of these groupings. It has been suggested that the complexes represent the work of successive kings: some of the new rulers founded a new residence.[31] The focus of power moved from the Hill Complex in the 12th century, to the Great Enclosure, the Upper Valley and finally the Lower Valley in the early 16th century.[9] The alternative "structuralist" interpretation holds that the different complexes had different functions: the Hill Complex as an area for rituals, perhaps related to rain making, the Valley complex was for the citizens, and the Great Enclosure was used by the king. Structures that were more elaborate were probably built for the kings, although it has been argued that the dating of finds in the complexes does not support this interpretation.[32]

Dhaka pits were closed depressions utilized by inhabitants of Great Zimbabwe as sources of water management in the form of reservoirs, wells and springs. Dhaka pits may have been in use since the mid-2nd millennium CE and the system could hold more than 18,000 m3 (640,000 cu ft) of water storage.[33]

### Notable artefacts

Copy of Zimbabwe Bird soapstone sculpture

The most important artefacts recovered from the monument are the eight Zimbabwe Birds. These were carved from a micaceous schist (soapstone) on the tops of monoliths the height of a person.[34] Slots in a platform in the Eastern Enclosure of the Hill Complex appear designed to hold the monoliths with the Zimbabwe birds, but as they were not found in situ, the original location of each monolith and bird within the enclosure cannot be determined .[35] Other artefacts include soapstone figurines (one of which is in the British Museum[36]), pottery, iron gongs, elaborately worked ivory, iron and copper wire, iron hoes, bronze spearheads, copper ingots and crucibles, and gold beads, bracelets, pendants and sheaths.[37][38] Glass beads and porcelain from China and Persia[39][40] among other foreign artefacts were also found, attesting the international trade linkages of the kingdom. The extensive, remaining stone ruins of the great city include eight monolithic soapstone birds. It is thought that they represent the bateleur eagle – a good omen, protective spirit and messenger of the gods in Shona culture.[41]

### Trade

Map of trade centres and routes in precolonial Zimbabwe.

Great Zimbabwe became a centre for trading[42], having replaced Mapungubwe around 1300.[43] Regional networks were expansive, and salt, cattle, grain, and copper were traded as far north as the Kundelungu Plateau in present-day DR Congo. A significant portion of Great Zimbabwe's wealth came from the domination of trade routes from the goldfields of the Zimbabwean Plateau to the Swahili coast.[14]: 17 Traders travelled the Save and Runde rivers, possibly using locally-produced canoes.[44]: 65, 77 Through Swahili city-states such as Sofala, they exported gold and ivory into the Indian Ocean trade.[45] The Swahili coastal trading cities acted as intermediaries that linked inland African trade networks with merchangs who were operating across the Indian Ocean.[46]That international commerce was in addition to the local agricultural trade, in which cattle were especially important.[23] The large cattle herd that supplied the city moved seasonally and was managed by the court.[34] Chinese pottery shards, coins from Arabia, glass beads and other non-local items have been excavated at Zimbabwe.[47] Archeological evidence shows that some of the imported ceramics included Longquan green-glazed stoneware and blue-and-white porcelain that dates back to the 14th and 15th centuries.[46] These artifacts likely reached Great Zimbabwe through distribution networks that were connected to Swahili coastal ports, like Kilwa Kisiwani.[46] Despite these strong international trade links, there is no evidence to suggest exchange of architectural concepts between Great Zimbabwe and centres such as Kilwa.[48]

### Gold working

In archaeological research, Great Zimbabwe was a significant site for gold working in Southern Africa. Such discoveries indicated how gold production was a skill and needed practice rather than a common activity.[49] Recent studies released evidence of debris left behind from gold working which confirmed that gold was processed in certain areas of the site. This acknowledged that gold working was a meaningful part in craft traditions and its value in economy.[50] The excavations had revealed clay containers, crucibles, and tools which were used to heat gold and turn it into wire, beads, or decorative accessories.[50] Remains of these tools and materials provided an understanding of the skilful artisans who lived in Great Zimbabwe and the major role of gold in their cultural and daily life.[49]

### Decline

It is unknown what caused Great Zimbabwe's demise and its eventual abandonment.[lower-alpha 3] It is unclear to what extent climate change played a role, however Great Zimbabwe's location in a favourable rainfall zone makes this unlikely to have been a primary cause. Great Zimbabwe's dominance over the region depended on its continual extension and projection of influence, as its growing population needed more farming land and traders more gold.[3] Shona oral tradition attributes Great Zimbabwe's demise to a salt shortage, which may be a figurative way of speaking of land depletion for agriculturalists or of the depletion of critical resources for the community.[51][52]: 10 It is plausible the aquifer Great Zimbabwe sat on top of ran out of water, or the growing population contaminated the water.[53]

From the early 15th century, international trade began to decline amid a global economic downturn, reducing demand for gold, which adversely affected Great Zimbabwe. In response to this, elites possibly expanded regional trading networks, resulting in greater prosperity for other settlements in the region. By the late 15th century, the consequences of this decision would have begun to manifest, as offshoots from Great Zimbabwe's royal family formed new dynasties, possibly as a result of losing succession disputes.[54] According to oral tradition, Nyatsimba Mutota, a member of Great Zimbabwe's royal family, led part of the population north in search for salt, and founded the Mutapa Empire.[lower-alpha 4][3] It was believed that only their most recent ancestors would follow them, with older ancestors staying at Great Zimbabwe and providing protection there.[25] Angoche traders opened a new route along the Zambezi via Mutapa and Ingombe Ilede to reach the goldfields west of Great Zimbabwe, precipitating its decline and the rise of Khami, the capital of the Kingdom of Butua.[56]: 50 By the 16th century, political and economic power had shifted away from Great Zimbabwe to the north and west. The site likely continued to be inhabited into the 17th century, before it was eventually abandoned.[3]

## History of research and origins of the ruins

Great Zimbabwe appears on Abraham Ortelius' 1570 map Africae Tabula Nova, rendered "Simbaoe".

There has historically been much debate around the origins of Great Zimbabwe, termed the "Zimbabwe controversy".[57] Mired in racial prejudice, Rhodesians found it inconceivable that the structures could have been built by indigenous Africans, stipulating that archaeological discoveries of Persian bowls and Chinese celadon were the result of pre-Bantu settlement. The colonial government pressured archaeologists to deny that the structure was built by indigenous Africans, because acknowledging it would have dismantled their "civilising mission" rationale.[58] The refutation of various fantastical and dehumanising theories ascribing the construction to Jews, Arabs, Phoenicians, and anyone but the Shona, along with other activities of the antiquarians, dominated the historiography of Great Zimbabwe throughout the 20th century.[3][59] Its African origin only became consensus by the 1950s.[60]

### From Portuguese traders to Karl Mauch

The first European visit may have been made by the Portuguese traveler António Fernandes in 1513–1515, who crossed twice and reported in detail the region of present-day Zimbabwe (including the Shona kingdoms) and also fortified centers in stone without mortar. However, passing en route a few kilometres north, and about 56 km (35 mi) south of the site, he did not make a reference to Great Zimbabwe.[61][62] Portuguese traders heard about the remains of the medieval city in the early 16th century, and records survive of interviews and notes made by some of them, linking Great Zimbabwe to gold production and long-distance trade.[63] Two of those accounts mention an inscription above the entrance to Great Zimbabwe, written in characters not known to the Arab merchants who had seen it.[64][65]

In 1506, the explorer Diogo de Alcáçova described the edifices in a letter to Manuel I of Portugal, writing that they were part of the larger kingdom of Ucalanga (presumably Karanga, a dialect of the Shona people spoken mainly in Masvingo and Midlands provinces of Zimbabwe).[66] João de Barros left another such description of Great Zimbabwe in 1538, as recounted to him by Moorish traders who had visited the area and possessed knowledge of the hinterland. He indicates that the edifices were locally known as Symbaoe, which meant "royal court" in the vernacular.[67] As to the actual identity of the builders of Great Zimbabwe, de Barros writes:[68]

> When and by whom, these edifices were raised, as the people of the land are ignorant of the art of writing, there is no record, but they say they are the work of the devil,[69] for in comparison with their power and knowledge it does not seem possible to them that they should be the work of man.

— João de Barros

Additionally, with regard to the purpose of the Great Zimbabwe ruins, de Barros asserted that: "in the opinion of the Moors who saw it [Great Zimbabwe] it is very ancient and was built to keep possessions of the mines, which are very old, and no gold has been extracted from them for years, because of the wars … it would seem that some prince who has possession of these mines ordered it to be built as a sign thereof, which he afterwards lost in the course of time and through their being so remote from his kingdom".[67]

De Barros further remarked that Symbaoe "is guarded by a nobleman, who has charge of it, after the manner of a chief alcaide, and they call this officer Symbacayo … and there are always some of Benomotapa's wives therein of whom Symbacayo takes care." Thus, Great Zimbabwe appears to have still been inhabited as recently as the early 16th century.[67]

### Early European Rediscovery and Biblical Interpretations

The ruins were rediscovered by Europeans during a hunting trip in 1867 by Adam Render, a German-American hunter, prospector and trader in southern Africa,[70] who had been living with a local tribe.[71] In 1871 showed the ruins to Karl Mauch, a German explorer and geographer of Africa. Karl Mauch recorded the ruins and immediately discounted any possibility of native construction[71] and proceeded to speculate about a possible Biblical association with King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba, an explanation which had been suggested by earlier writers such as the Portuguese João dos Santos. Mauch went so far as to favour a legend that the structures were built to replicate the palace of the Queen of Sheba in Jerusalem,[72] and claimed a wooden lintel at the site must be Lebanese cedar, brought by Phoenicians.[73] The Sheba legend, as promoted by Mauch, became so pervasive in the white settler community as to cause the later scholar James Theodore Bent to say,

> The names of King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba were on everybody's lips, and have become so distasteful to us that we never expect to hear them again without an involuntary shudder.[74]

### Looting and Early Destruction of the Site

A series of looters followed Mauch's visit to the ruins, some employed by W.G. Neal who famously operated the Ancient Ruins Company. The first looter who found his way to the site, Willi Posselt, removed a native-made soapstone bird and managed to conceal others to retrieve at a later date. Over the following several years Neal and his company plundered the ruins, stripping it of anything of value and destroying what they presumably could not take to sell, including structures. It is unclear how much pottery, figurines and other artefacts were lost or stolen.[71]

### Early Excavations and Possible Non African Origins

The Valley Complex

Carl Peters collected a ceramic ushabti in 1905. Flinders Petrie examined it and identified a cartouche on its chest as belonging to the 18th Dynasty Egyptian Pharaoh Thutmose III and suggested that it was a statuette of the king and cited it as proof of commercial ties between rulers in the area and the ancient Egyptians during the New Kingdom (c. 1550–1077 BC), if not a relic of an old Egyptian station near the local gold mines.[75] Johann Heinrich Schäfer later appraised the statuette, and argued that it belonged to a well-known group of forgeries. After having received the ushabti, Felix von Luschan suggested that it was of more recent origin than the New Kingdom. He asserted that the figurine instead appeared to date to the subsequent Ptolemaic era (c. 323–30 BC), when Alexandria-based Greek merchants would export Egyptian antiquities and pseudo-antiquities to southern Africa.[76]

J. Theodore Bent, with his wife Mabel, undertook a season at Zimbabwe with Cecil Rhodes's patronage and funding from the Royal Geographical Society and the British Association for the Advancement of Science. This, and other excavations undertaken for Rhodes, resulted in a book publication that introduced the ruins to English readers. Bent had no formal archaeological training, but by 1891 he had travelled widely in Greece and Asia Minor and had excavated (1889) the Mounds of A'ali, Bahrain. This lack of training likely contributed to his decision to recklessly dig in the conical tower of the Great Enclosure, which would subsequently ruin the stratigraphy of the environment.[71] This in turn made it impossible for any archaeologist who came after him to determine the tower's age. Several artefacts were lost during this visit as well, this time being discarded as insignificant.[71] Bent was aided by the expert cartographer and surveyor Robert M. W. Swan (1858–1904), who also visited and surveyed a host of related stone ruins nearby. Bent stated in the first edition of his book The Ruined Cities of Mashonaland (1892)[77] that the ruins revealed either the Phoenicians or the Arabs as builders, and he favoured the possibility of great antiquity for the fortress. In the Preface to his second edition (1893) he was more specific, with his primary theory being "a Semitic race and of Arabian origin" of "strongly commercial" traders living within a client African city.

Exterior wall of the Great Enclosure. Picture taken by David Randall-MacIver in 1906.

### The Lemba

The construction of Great Zimbabwe is also claimed by the Lemba, as documented by William Bolts in 1777 (to the Austrian Habsburg authorities), and by an A. A. Anderson (writing about his travels north of the Limpopo River in the 19th century). Lemba speak the Bantu languages spoken by their geographic neighbours, but they have some religious practices and beliefs similar to those in Judaism and Islam, which they claim were transmitted by oral tradition.[78]

### First Scientific Excavations

The first scientific archaeological excavations at the site were undertaken by David Randall-MacIver for the British Association in 1905–1906. In Medieval Rhodesia, he rejected the claims made by Adam Render, Carl Peters and Karl Mauch, and instead wrote of the existence in the site of objects that were of Bantu origin. Randall-MacIver concluded that all available evidence led him to believe that the Zimbabwe structures were constructed by the ancestors of the Shona people.[79][80][81] More importantly he suggested a wholly medieval date for the walled fortifications and temple. This claim was not immediately accepted, partly due to the relatively short and undermanned period of excavation he was able to undertake.

### Archaeological Confirmation of African Origins

The Hill Complex

In mid-1929, Gertrude Caton Thompson concluded, after a twelve-day visit of a three-person team and the digging of several trenches, that the site was indeed created by Bantu. She had first sunk three test pits into what had been refuse heaps on the upper terraces of the hill complex, producing a mix of unremarkable pottery and ironwork. She then moved to the Conical Tower and tried to dig under the tower, arguing that the ground there would be undisturbed, but nothing was revealed. Some further test trenches were then put down outside the lower Great Enclosure and in the Valley Ruins, which unearthed domestic ironwork, glass beads, and a gold bracelet. Caton Thompson immediately announced her Bantu origin theory to a meeting of the British Association in Johannesburg.[82]

> Examination of all the existing evidence, gathered from every quarter, still can produce not one single item that is not in accordance with the claim of Bantu origin and medieval date[74]

Caton Thompson's claim was not immediately favoured, although it had strong support among some scientific archaeologists due to her modern methods. Her most important contribution was in helping to confirm the theory of a medieval origin for the masonry work of the 14th and 15th centuries. By 1931, she had modified her Bantu theory somewhat, allowing for a possible Arabian influence for the towers through the imitation of buildings or art seen at coastal Arabian trading cities.

### Modern Archaeological Consensus and Dating Evidence

Since the 1950s, there has been consensus among archaeologists as to the African origins of Great Zimbabwe.[83][84] Artefacts and radiocarbon dating indicate settlement in at least the 5th century, with continuous settlement of Great Zimbabwe between the 12th and 15th centuries[85] and the bulk of the finds from the 15th century.[86] The radiocarbon evidence is a suite of 28 measurements, for which all but the first four, from the early days of the use of that method and now viewed as inaccurate, support the 12th-to-15th-centuries chronology.[85][87] In the 1970s, a beam that produced some of the anomalous dates in 1952 was reanalysed and gave a 14th-century date.[88] Dated finds such as Chinese, Persian and Syrian artefacts also support the 12th- and 15th-century dates.[89]

### Gokomere

Archaeologists generally agree that the builders spoke one of the Shona languages,[90][91] based upon evidence of pottery,[92][93] oral traditions[86][94] and anthropology[31] and DNA evidence [95] and recent scholarship supports the construction of Great Zimbabwe (and the origin of its culture) by Shona and Venda peoples,[96][97][98][99] who were probably descended from the Gokomere culture.[87] The Gokomere culture, an eastern Bantu subgroup, existed in the area from around 200 AD and flourished from 500 AD to about 800 AD. Archaeological evidence indicates that it constitutes an early phase of the Great Zimbabwe culture.[9][86][100][101] The Gokomere culture likely gave rise to both the modern Mashona people,[102] an ethnic cluster comprising distinct sub-ethnic groups such as the local Karanga clan and the Rozwi culture, which originated as several Shona states.[103] Gokomere peoples were probably also related to certain nearby early Bantu groups like the Mapungubwe civilisation of neighbouring North eastern South Africa, which is believed to have been an early Venda-speaking culture, and to the nearby Sotho.

### Recent research

File:Great zimbabwe 2.jpgPassageway in the Great Enclosure

More recent archaeological work has been carried out by Peter Garlake, who has produced the comprehensive descriptions of the site,[104][105][106] David Beach[31][107][108] and Thomas Huffman,[86][109] who have worked on the chronology and development of Great Zimbabwe and Gilbert Pwiti, who has published extensively on trade links.[23][110][111] Today, the most recent consensus attributes the construction of Great Zimbabwe to the Shona people (a Bantu group).[96][97] Some evidence also suggests an early influence from the peoples of the Mapungubwe civilization.[87]

### Damage to the ruins

Damage to the ruins has taken place throughout the last century. European antiquarians looted and pillaged Great Zimbabwe and similar structures from the 1890s to 1920s, greatly inhibiting the work of future archaeologists by destroying its stratigraphy. The removal of gold and artefacts in amateurist diggings by early colonial antiquarians caused widespread damage,[63] notably diggings by Richard Nicklin Hall.[74] More extensive damage was caused by the mining of some of the ruins for gold.[63] Reconstruction attempts since 1980 caused further damage, leading to alienation of the local communities from the site.[112][113] A continuing source of damage to the ruins has been visitation, with many cases of people climbing the walls, walking over archaeological deposits, and overusing paths, all of which have significantly affected structures at the site.[112] This anthropogenic damage has combined with that from natural causes including erosion, settling of foundations, and damage from plant growth.[112]

## Political implications

A closeup of Great Zimbabwe ruins, 2006

Martin Hall writes that the history of Iron Age research south of the Zambezi shows the prevalent influence of colonial ideologies, both in the earliest speculations about the nature of the African past and in the adaptations that have been made to contemporary archaeological methodologies.[114] Preben Kaarsholm writes that both colonial and black nationalist groups invoked Great Zimbabwe's past to support their vision of the country's present, through the media of popular history and of fiction. Examples of such popular history include Alexander Wilmot's Monomotapa (Rhodesia) and Ken Mufuka's Dzimbahwe: Life and Politics in the Golden Age; examples from fiction include Wilbur Smith's The Sunbird and Stanlake Samkange's Year of the Uprising.[63]

When white colonialists like Cecil Rhodes first saw the ruins, they saw them as a sign of the great riches that the area would yield to its new masters.[63] Pikirayi and Kaarsholm suggest that this presentation of Great Zimbabwe was partly intended to encourage settlement and investment in the area.[63][115] Gertrude Caton-Thompson recognised that the builders were indigenous Africans, but she characterised the site as the "product of an infantile mind" built by a subjugated society.[116][117][118] The official line in Rhodesia during the 1960s and 1970s was that the structures were built by non-blacks. Archaeologists who disputed the official statement were censored by the government.[119] According to Paul Sinclair, interviewed for None But Ourselves:[60]

> I was the archaeologist stationed at Great Zimbabwe. I was told by the then-director of the Museums and Monuments organisation to be extremely careful about talking to the press about the origins of the [Great] Zimbabwe state. I was told that the museum service was in a difficult situation, that the government was pressurising them to withhold the correct information. Censorship of guidebooks, museum displays, school textbooks, radio programmes, newspapers and films was a daily occurrence. Once a member of the Museum Board of Trustees threatened me with losing my job if I said publicly that blacks had built Zimbabwe. He said it was okay to say the yellow people had built it, but I wasn't allowed to mention radio carbon dates ... It was the first time since Germany in the thirties that archaeology has been so directly censored.

This suppression of archaeology culminated in the departure from the country of prominent archaeologists of Great Zimbabwe, including Peter Garlake, Senior Inspector of Monuments for Rhodesia, and Roger Summers of the National Museum.[120]

The Zimbabwe Bird, depicted on Zimbabwe's flag File:Coat of arms of Rhodesia.svgThe Zimbabwe Bird, depicted on Rhodesia's coat of arms

To black nationalist groups, Great Zimbabwe became an important symbol of achievement by Africans: reclaiming its history was a major aim for those seeking majority rule. In 1980 the new internationally recognised independent country was renamed for the site, and its famous soapstone bird carvings were retained from the Rhodesian flag and Coat of Arms as a national symbol and depicted in the new Zimbabwean flag. After the creation of the modern state of Zimbabwe in 1980, Great Zimbabwe has been employed to mirror and legitimise shifting policies of the ruling regime. At first it was argued that it represented a form of pre-colonial "African socialism" and later the focus shifted to stressing the natural evolution of an accumulation of wealth and power within a ruling elite.[121] An example of the former is Ken Mufuka's booklet,[122] although the work has been heavily criticised.[63][123] A tower of the Great Zimbabwe is also depicted on the coat of arms of Zimbabwe.

Some of the carvings had been taken from Great Zimbabwe around 1890 and sold to Cecil Rhodes, who was intrigued and had copies made which he gave to friends. Most of the carvings have now been returned to Zimbabwe, but one remains at Rhodes' old home, Groote Schuur, in Cape Town.

## Local perspectives

Local narratives, despite each clan claiming the site of Great Zimbabwe, are very similar in lamenting both the European antiquarians and the professional archaeologists for desecrating and appropriating a sacred site. They hold the government responsible for the "silence" and "closure" of Great Zimbabwe due to their refusal to "acknowledge the ownership and control of the site by the ancestors and Mwari".[124]

For many local communities, Great Zimbabwe is not just seen as an "abandoned" or historical relic, but as a living cultural landscaoe that is tied to their spiritual and economic livelihoods.[125] However, some researchers note that since archeologists often have authority due to scientific method usage and claimed objectivity, their perspectives take priority, alienating local perspectives.[125] As a result, the monument is typically treated as a historical archeological site rather than a cultural landscape that still holds meaning to local communities.[125]

## Great Zimbabwe Hotel

In 1902, during the colonial period, the Great Zimbabwe Hotel was constructed in order to provide accommodation for Rhodesians and other Europeans who were visiting the Great Zimbabwe Monuments.[126] The hotel is located within the cultural landscape of Great Zimbabwe and has been the subject of ongoing tension among the hotel's management, the National Museums and Monuments of Zimbabwe (NMMZ), and surrounding local communities.[126] The hotel was initially reserved exclusively for Europeans, excluding Africans from accessing both the hotel and the monuments. Locals were not allowed to move freely through the hotel grounds, with access often being denied based on clothing, attire, or social status. Villagers carrying sacks, wearing shorts (men), sandals, tattered clothes, or traditional regalia for cultural performances were also often turned away.[126]

The relations between the hotel and the monuments were relatively cooperative during the 1980s and 1990s, when both institutions were managed by European staff. During this time, the monument staff was welcomed at the hotel and were sometimes given complimentary access to meals and facilities. However, tensions increased after monument management transitioned to African administrators.[126] There were disputes over access routes, resource use, and developments within the archeological zone, including the construction of campsites and septic tanks without consulting the NMMZ.[126] Buses carrying monument visitors were also redirected to avoid passing through the hotel grounds since passengers "made a lot of noise" or would sing upon arrival due to excitement.[126]

## Great Zimbabwe University

In the early 21st century, the government of Zimbabwe endorsed the creation of a university in the vicinity of the ruins. This university is an arts and culture based university which draws from the rich history of the monuments. The university main site is near the monuments with other campuses in the City centre and Mashava. The campuses include Herbet Chitepo Law School, Robert Mugabe School of Education, Gary Magadzire School of Agriculture and Natural Science, Simon Muzenda School of Arts, and Munhumutapa School of Commerce.

## Gallery

* The Conical Tower

* Soapstone Zimbabwe Birds found in the ruins, photographed c. 1891 (from J.T. Bent's Ruined Cities of Mashonaland, London, 1892, p.181)

Soapstone Zimbabwe Birds found in the ruins, photographed c. 1891 (from J.T. Bent's Ruined Cities of Mashonaland, London, 1892, p.181)

* Modern wood carving at the entrance of the Great Zimbabwe

Modern wood carving at the entrance of the Great Zimbabwe

* The Great Enclosure

* The Great Enclosure (close)

The Great Enclosure (close)

* The Great Enclosure (far)

* The Hill Complex from the Valley

The Hill Complex from the Valley

* Wooden lintel in doorway

Wooden lintel in doorway

## Notes

1. ↑ Some scholars contest that cultures and identities can't be considered fixed or invariable, especially over such a long time period.[13]
2. ↑ The term Karanga began as an exonym of the Shona used by outsiders, however in the modern day it refers to a dialect of Shona in south-central Zimbabwe.[16]: 4
3. ↑ A major factor involves the actions of European antiquarians and prospectors during the colonial period in the looting of the site, destroying its stratigraphy.
4. ↑ According to tradition, the move came about because the king was tired of eating salt made from goat's dung.[55]

## See also

* Other ruins in Zimbabwe
* Bumbusi
* Danangombe
* Naletale
* Khami
* Ziwa
* Leopard's Kopje
* Mapela, Zimbabwe
* Related ruins outside Zimbabwe
* Manyikeni – a Mozambiquean archaeological site believed to be part of the Great Zimbabwe tradition of architecture
* Similar ruins outside Zimbabwe
* Blaauboschkraal stone ruins in Mpumalanga, South Africa
* Machadodorp baKoni Ruins in Mpumalanga, South Africa
* Engaruka in Arusha Region, Tanzania
* Kweneng' Ruins in Gauteng, South Africa
* Mapungubwe in Limpopo, South Africa
* Thimlich Ohinga stone ruins in Migori County, Kenya
* Megaliths
* Interregional caravan trade in East Africa

## References

1. ↑ Pikirayi, Innocent; Sulas, Federica; Chirikure, Shadreck; Chikumbirike, Joseph; Sagiya, Munyaradzi Elton (January 2023). "The Conundrum of Great Zimbabwe" (in en). Journal of Urban Archaeology 7: 95–114. doi:10.1484/J.JUA.5.133452. ISSN 2736-2426. https://www.brepolsonline.net/doi/abs/10.1484/J.JUA.5.133452. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
2. ↑ Chirikure, Shadreck (2020-06-01). "New Perspectives on the Political Economy of Great Zimbabwe" (in en). Journal of Archaeological Research 28 (2): 139–186. doi:10.1007/s10814-019-09133-w. ISSN 1573-7756.
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 Pikirayi, Innocent (2020), Smith, Claire, ed. (in en), Great Zimbabwe, 1100–1600 AD, Rise, Development, and Demise of, Cham: Springer International Publishing, pp. 4696–4709, doi:10.1007/978-3-030-30018-0_2666, ISBN 978-3-030-30018-0, https://link.springer.com/referenceworkentry/10.1007/978-3-030-30018-0_2666, retrieved 2024-12-21
4. ↑ "Great Zimbabwe: African City of Stone". 10 March 2017. https://www.livescience.com/58200-great-zimbabwe.html.
5. ↑ Chirikure, Shadreck; Moultrie, Thomas; Bandama, Foreman; Dandara, Collett; Manyanga, Munyaradzi (2017-06-14). "What was the population of Great Zimbabwe (CE1000 – 1800)?". PLOS ONE 12 (6). doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0178335. ISSN 1932-6203.
6. ↑ Fleminger, David (2008). Mapungubwe Cultural Landscape. 30 Degrees South. p. 57. ISBN 978-0-9584891-5-7. https://books.google.com/books?id=pp2VcW9_Z4QC&q=white+great+zimbabwe&pg=PA61.
7. ↑ M. Sibanda, H. Moyana et al. 1992. The African Heritage. History for Junior Secondary Schools. Book 1. Zimbabwe Publishing House. ISBN 978-0-908300-00-6
8. ↑ "Great Zimbabwe, Zimbabwe - The Metropolitan Museum of Art" (in en). 2025-05-31. https://www.metmuseum.org/perspectives/great-zimbabwe.
9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 9.5 Shadreck Chirikure; Innocent Pikirayi (2008). "Inside and outside the dry stone walls: revisiting the material culture of Great Zimbabwe". Antiquity 82 (318): 976–993. doi:10.1017/S0003598X00097726.
10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Newitt, M. D. D. (2002). East Africa. 2. Ashgate. p. 39. ISBN 0-7546-0181-1.
11. ↑ Michel Lafon (1994). "Shona Class 5 revisited: a case against *ri as Class 5 nominal prefix". Zambezia 21: 51–80. http://archive.lib.msu.edu/DMC/African Journals/pdfs/Journal of the University of Zimbabwe/vol21n1/juz021001005.pdf. . See also Lawrence J. Vale (1999). "Mediated monuments and national identity". Journal of Architecture 4 (4): 391–408. doi:10.1080/136023699373774.
12. ↑ Garlake (1973) 13
13. ↑ Pargeter, Justin; Mackay, Alex; Mitchell, Peter; Shea, John; Stewart, Brian (2016). "Primordialism and the 'Pleistocene San' of southern Africa". Antiquity 90 (352). https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/antiquity/article/abs/primordialism-and-the-pleistocene-san-of-southern-africa/45D6E61597C34A496AB5A0B6FA1C7632.
14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 Mlambo, A. S. (2014). A history of Zimbabwe. Internet Archive. New York, NY : Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-107-02170-9. https://archive.org/details/historyofzimbabw0000mlam/mode/2up?view=theater.
15. ↑ Pikirayi (2001) p129
16. ↑ Raftopoulos, Brian; Mlambo, Alois (2009). Becoming Zimbabwe: a history from the pre-colonial period to 2008. ISBN 978-1-77922-083-7. https://archive.org/details/becomingzimbabwe0000unse.
17. ↑ Summers (1970) p163
18. ↑ Chirikure, Shadreck; Manyanga, Munyaradzi; Pikirayi, Innocent; Pollard, Mark (2013-12-01). "New Pathways of Sociopolitical Complexity in Southern Africa" (in en). African Archaeological Review 30 (4): 339–366. doi:10.1007/s10437-013-9142-3. ISSN 1572-9842. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10437-013-9142-3.
19. ↑ "Great Zimbabwe (11th–15th century) – Thematic Essay". The Metropolitan Museum of Art. October 2001. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/zimb/hd_zimb.htm.
20. ↑ Pikirayi, Innocent (2020), Smith, Claire, ed. (in en), Great Zimbabwe, 1100–1600 AD, Rise, Development, and Demise of, Cham: Springer International Publishing, pp. 4696–4709, doi:10.1007/978-3-030-30018-0_2666, ISBN 978-3-030-30018-0, https://link.springer.com/referenceworkentry/10.1007/978-3-030-30018-0_2666, retrieved 2024-12-20
21. ↑ Beach, David (1980). "The Shona before 1450". The Shona & Zimbabwe 900-1850: An Outline of Shona History. Pearson Education. ISBN 978-0-435-94505-3. https://books.google.co.uk/books/about/The_Shona_Zimbabwe_900_1850.html?id=Wzx1AAAAMAAJ&redir_esc=y.
22. ↑ Pikirayi, Innocent (2020), Smith, Claire, ed. (in en), Great Zimbabwe, 1100–1600 AD, Rise, Development, and Demise of, Cham: Springer International Publishing, pp. 4696–4709, doi:10.1007/978-3-030-30018-0_2666, ISBN 978-3-030-30018-0, https://link.springer.com/referenceworkentry/10.1007/978-3-030-30018-0_2666, retrieved 2024-12-20
23. ↑ 23.0 23.1 23.2 Gilbert Pwiti (1991). "Trade and economies in southern Africa: the archaeological evidence". Zambezia 18: 119–129. http://archive.lib.msu.edu/DMC/African Journals/pdfs/Journal of the University of Zimbabwe/vol18n2/juz018002004.pdf.
24. ↑ 24.0 24.1 Kim, Nam C.; Kusimba, Chapurukha M.; Keeley, Lawrence H. (2015). "Coercion and Warfare in the Rise of State Societies in Southern Zambezia". The African Archaeological Review 32 (1): 1–34. doi:10.1007/s10437-015-9183-x. ISSN 0263-0338.
25. ↑ 25.0 25.1 Huffman, Thomas N. (2014-04-01). "Ritual Space in the Zimbabwe Culture". Journal of Archaeological, Ethnographic and Experimental Studies 6 (1): 4–39. doi:10.1179/1944289013z.0000000008. ISSN 1944-2890. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1179/1944289013Z.0000000008.
26. ↑ Mufuka, Kenneth (2005). "Great Zimbabwe: Origins and Rise". Encyclopedia of African History. Routledge. doi:10.4324/9780203483862. ISBN 978-1-135-45670-2. https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/mono/10.4324/9780203483862/encyclopedia-african-history-3-volume-set-kevin-shillington.
27. ↑ Kuklick, Henrika (1991). "Contested monuments: the politics of archaeology in southern Africa". in George W. Stocking. Colonial situations: essays on the contextualization of ethnographic knowledge. Univ of Wisconsin Press. pp. 135–170. ISBN 978-0-299-13124-1.
28. ↑ 28.0 28.1 Chirikure, S. (2017). "What was the population of Great Zimbabwe (CE1000 – 1800)". PLOS ONE 12 (6). doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0178335. PMID 28614397. Bibcode: 2017PLoSO..1278335C.
29. ↑ Garlake (1973) 27
30. ↑ Garlake (1973) 29
31. ↑ 31.0 31.1 31.2 Beach, David (1998). "Cognitive Archaeology and Imaginary History at Great Zimbabwe". Current Anthropology 39: 47–72. doi:10.1086/204698.
32. ↑ Collett, D. P.; A. E. Vines; E. G. Hughes (1992). "The chronology of the Valley Enclosures: implications for the interpretation of Great Zimbabwe". African Archaeological Review 10: 139–161. doi:10.1007/BF01117699.
33. ↑ Innocent, Pikirayi; Federica Sulas; Bongumenzi Nxumalo; Munyaradzi Elton Sagiya; David Stott; Søren M. Kristiansen; Shadreck Chirikure; Tendai Musindo (2022). "Climate-smart harvesting and storing of water: The legacy of dhaka pits at Great Zimbabwe". Anthropocene 40. doi:10.1016/j.ancene.2022.100357. Bibcode: 2022Anthr..4000357P.
34. ↑ 34.0 34.1 Garlake (2002) 158
35. ↑ Garlake (1973) 119
36. ↑ "figure". https://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=596305&partId=1&place=16737&plaA=16737-3-1&pag.
37. ↑ Garlake (2002) 159–162
38. ↑ Summers (1970) p166
39. ↑ "Great Zimbabwe National Monument". https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/364.
40. ↑ Ndoro, Webber (2005-01-01). "Great Zimbabwe" (in en). https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/great-zimbabwe-2005-01/.
41. ↑ Nelson, Jo (2019). Historium. Big Picture Press. p. 10.
42. ↑ Ndoro, Webber (2005-01-01). "Great Zimbabwe" (in en). https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/great-zimbabwe-2005-01/.
43. ↑ Chirikure, Shadreck; Delius, Peter; Esterhuysen, Amanda; Hall, Simon; Lekgoathi, Sekibakiba; Maulaudzi, Maanda; Neluvhalani, Vele; Ntsoane, Otsile et al. (2015-10-01) (in en). Mapungubwe Reconsidered: A Living Legacy: Exploring Beyond the Rise and Decline of the Mapungubwe State. Real African Publishers Pty Ltd.. ISBN 978-1-920655-06-8. https://books.google.com/books?id=3pa7CgAAQBAJ&dq=kingdom+of+mapungubwe&pg=PT6.
44. ↑ Hawarden, Rosanne (2018). "A Tradition of Large Logboats on the Save River, South-Eastern Zimbabwe?". in Sarathi, Akshay. Early Maritime Cultures in East Africa and the Western Indian Ocean. Archaeopress. https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv1zcm2p4.
45. ↑ Delius, Peter; Chewins, Linell; Forssman, Tim (2024). "Turning South African History Upside Down: Ivory and Gold Production, the Indian Ocean Trading System and the Shaping of Southern African Society, 600–1900 AD". Journal of Southern African Studies 50 (3): 499–520. doi:10.1080/03057070.2024.2436329. ISSN 0305-7070. Bibcode: 2024JSAfS..50..499D.
46. ↑ 46.0 46.1 46.2 Bing, Zhao. "Chinese-style ceramics in East Africa from the 9th to 16th century:..." (in en). http://journals.openedition.org/afriques/1836.
47. ↑ Ndoro, Webber (2005-01-01). "Great Zimbabwe" (in en). https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/great-zimbabwe-2005-01/.
48. ↑ Garlake (2002) 185
49. ↑ 49.0 49.1 Mukwende, Tawanda (2025-05-27). "Great Zimbabwe - The Metropolitan Museum of Art" (in en). https://www.metmuseum.org/essays/great-zimbabwe.
50. ↑ 50.0 50.1 Vieri, Jasmine; Chirikure, Shadreck; Lane, Paul; Martinón-Torres, Marcos (2023-08-03). "Archaeological science, globalisation, and local agency: gold in Great Zimbabwe" (in en). Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences 15 (8): 127. doi:10.1007/s12520-023-01811-7. ISSN 1866-9565. PMID 37547282.
51. ↑ Silva, Alberto da Costa (2009). "15. Zimbabué" (in Portuguese). A enxada e a lança: a África antes dos Portugueses. Rio de Janeiro: Editora Nova Fronteira Participações S.A.. ISBN 978-85-209-3947-5. https://books.google.com/books?id=yLTrAAAAMAAJ.
52. ↑ Pikirayi, Innocent (2006). "The Demise of Great Zimbabwe, ad 1420–1550: An Environmental Re-Appraisal". Cities in the World: 1500-2000: v. 3 (1st ed.). Routledge. doi:10.4324/9781315095677. ISBN 978-1-315-09567-7. https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781315095677-3/demise-great-zimbabwe-ad-1420–1550-environmental-re-appraisal-innocent-pikirayi.
53. ↑ Pikirayi, Innocent (2024-05-01). "Granite Landforms and Water Storage at Great Zimbabwe" (in en). The Medieval History Journal 27 (1): 254–279. doi:10.1177/09719458241258551. ISSN 0971-9458. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/09719458241258551.
54. ↑ Newitt, Malyn (2018-05-24) (in en), Southern Zambezia States and Indian Ocean Trade, 1450–1900, doi:10.1093/acrefore/9780190277734.013.289, ISBN 978-0-19-027773-4, https://oxfordre.com/africanhistory/display/10.1093/acrefore/9780190277734.001.0001/acrefore-9780190277734-e-289, retrieved 2025-02-18
55. ↑ Huffman, T. N. (1972). "The Rise and Fall of Zimbabwe" (in en). The Journal of African History 13 (3): 353–366. doi:10.1017/S0021853700011683. ISSN 1469-5138. https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-african-history/article/abs/rise-and-fall-of-zimbabwe/DF9B15B96E63ADFFC62967F9F2801703.
56. ↑ Waarden, Catrien Van (2012) (in en). Butua and the End of an Era: The Effect of the Collapse of the Kalanga State on Ordinary Citizens: an Analysis of Behaviour Under Stress. Archaeopress. ISBN 978-1-4073-1019-0. https://books.google.com/books?id=u1SqMwEACAAJ.
57. ↑ Fontein, Joost (2006). The silence of Great Zimbabwe: contested landscapes and the power of heritage. Internet Archive. London : UCL. ISBN 978-1-84472-123-8. https://archive.org/details/silenceofgreatzi0000font.
58. ↑ "BBC World Service - Witness History, The Whitewashing of Zimbabwe's History" (in en-GB). 2018-07-23. https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p06fjd1h.
59. ↑ Leaver, Daniel (2005). "Great Zimbabwe: Colonial historiography". Encyclopedia of African History. Routledge. doi:10.4324/9780203483862. ISBN 978-1-135-45670-2. https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/mono/10.4324/9780203483862/encyclopedia-african-history-3-volume-set-kevin-shillington.
60. ↑ 60.0 60.1 Frederikse, Julie (1990). "(1) Before the war". None But Ourselves. Biddy Partridge (photographer). Harare: Oral Traditions Association of Zimbabwe with Anvil Press. pp. 10–11. ISBN 0-7974-0961-0.
61. ↑ "The Pioneer Head". Rhodesiana (19). December 1968. http://www.rhodesia.nl/rhodesiana/volume19.pdf.
62. ↑ Oliver, Roland & Anthony Atmore (1975). Medieval Africa 1250–1800. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 738
63. ↑ 63.0 63.1 63.2 63.3 63.4 63.5 63.6 Kaarsholm, Preben (1992). "The past as battlefield in Rhodesia and Zimbabwe". Collected Seminar Papers. Institute of Commonwealth Studies 42. http://sas-space.sas.ac.uk/4213/1/Preben_Kaarsholm_-_The_past_as_battlefield_in_Rhodesia_and_Zimbabwe.pdf.
64. ↑ McCall-Theal, G. (1900). Records of South-eastern Africa. VI (book 10). Cape Town: Cape Colony Printers. pp. 264–273.
65. ↑ McCall-Theal, G. (1900). Records of South-eastern Africa. III. Cape Town: Cape Colony Printers. pp. 55, 129.
66. ↑ Randles, W. G. L. (1981). The Empire of Monomotapa: From the Fifteenth to the Nineteenth Century. Mambo Press. p. 5. https://books.google.com/books?id=68pBAAAAYAAJ. Retrieved 16 July 2016.
67. ↑ 67.0 67.1 67.2 Pikirayi, Innocent. "The Demise of Great Zimbabwe, ad 1420–1550". Post-Med Archaeology. http://www.msu.ac.zw/elearning/material/1299833592Decline of Great Zimbabwe.pdf.
68. ↑ Böhmer-Bauer, Kunigunde (2000). Great Zimbabwe: eine ethnologische Untersuchung. R. Köppe. p. 221. ISBN 3-89645-210-X. https://books.google.com/books?id=V9EwAQAAIAAJ. Retrieved 16 June 2016.
69. ↑ Note: double translations (local language to Portuguese to English) should be taken cautiously and not literally.
70. ↑ Rosenthal, Eric (1966). Southern African Dictionary of National Biography. London: Frederick Warne. p. 308. OCLC 390499.
71. ↑ 71.0 71.1 71.2 71.3 71.4 Ndoro, Webber (2005-01-01). "Great Zimbabwe" (in en). https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/great-zimbabwe-2005-01/.
72. ↑ "Vast Ruins in South Africa- The Ruined Cities of Mashonaland". The New York Times: p. 19. 18 December 1892.
73. ↑ Pikirayi (2001) p9
74. ↑ 74.0 74.1 74.2 Peter Tyson. "Mystery of Great Zimbabwe". Nova Online. https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/israel/zimbabwe.html.
75. ↑ Peters, Carl (1902). The Eldorado of the Ancients. C. Pearson. pp. 393–394. https://archive.org/stream/eldoradoofancien00pete#page/392/mode/2up.
76. ↑ Griffith, Francis Llewellyn (1903). Archæological Report. Egypt Exploration Fund. p. 42. https://books.google.com/books?id=m3PSvXWaH5YC. Retrieved 3 May 2016.
77. ↑ J.T. Bent, The ruined cities of Mashonaland, being a record of excavation and exploration in 1891. With a chapter on the Orientation and Mensuration of the Temples, by R.M.W. Swan. 8vo., pp. xi, 376. London, 1892, Longmans, Green & Co. This popular monograph appeared in a new (2nd) edition with an additional Appendix in August 1893 and was subsequently reprinted with additions in both January 1895 and 1896, before being reprinted again in 1902, five years after the author's death in 1897. And see also The Travel Chronicles of Mrs. J. Theodore Bent. Volume II: The African Journeys, 2012, Oxford, pp. 17-173.
78. ↑ van Warmelo, N.J. (1966). "Zur Sprache und Herkunft der Lemba". Hamburger Beiträge zur Afrika-Kunde (Deutsches Institut für Afrika-Forschung) 5: 273, 278, 281–282.
79. ↑ David Randall-MacIver 1873-1945 by David Ridgway, 1984
80. ↑ "Solomon's Mines". The New York Times: pp. RB241. 14 April 1906.
81. ↑ Randall-MacIver, David (1906). "The Rhodesia Ruins: their probable origins and significance". The Geographical Journal 27 (4): 325–336. doi:10.2307/1776233. Bibcode: 1906GeogJ..27..325R. https://zenodo.org/record/1449252.
82. ↑ "Ascribes Zimbabwe to African Bantus". The New York Times: p. 2. 20 October 1929.
83. ↑ Davidson, Basil (1959). The Lost Cities of Africa. Boston: Little Brown. pp. 366. ISBN 978-0-316-17431-2. https://archive.org/details/lostcitiesofafri00davi.
84. ↑ Africa from the twelfth to the sixteenth century. London: James Currey. 1997. p. 320. ISBN 978-0-85255-094-6.
85. ↑ 85.0 85.1 Garlake (2002) 146
86. ↑ 86.0 86.1 86.2 86.3 Huffman, Thomas N.; J. C. Vogel (1991). "The chronology of Great Zimbabwe". The South African Archaeological Bulletin 46 (154): 61–70. doi:10.2307/3889086.
87. ↑ 87.0 87.1 87.2 Huffman, Thomas N. (2009). "Mapungubwe and Great Zimbabwe: The origin and spread of social complexity in southern Africa". Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 28: 37–54. doi:10.1016/j.jaa.2008.10.004.
88. ↑ Garlake (1982) 34
89. ↑ Garlake (1982) 10
90. ↑ Garlake, Peter (1978). "Pastoralism and Zimbabwe". The Journal of African History 19 (4): 479–493. doi:10.1017/S0021853700016431.
91. ↑ Loubser, Jannie H. N. (1989). "Archaeology and early Venda history". Goodwin Series 6: 54–61. doi:10.2307/3858132.
92. ↑ Evers, T.M.; Thomas Huffman; Simiyu Wandibba (1988). "On why pots are decorated the way they are". Current Anthropology 29 (5): 739–741. doi:10.1086/203694.
93. ↑ Summers (1970) p195
94. ↑ Summers (1970) p164
95. ↑ Bodiba, Molebogeng; Steyn, Maryna; Bloomer, Paulette; Mosothwane, Morongwa N.; Rühli, Frank; Bouwman, Abigail (2019). "Ancient DNA Analysis of the Thulamela Remains: Deciphering the Migratory Patterns of a Southern African Population". Journal of African Archaeology 17 (2): 161–172. doi:10.1163/21915784-20190017. ISSN 1612-1651.
96. ↑ 96.0 96.1 Ndoro, W., and Pwiti, G. (1997). Marketing the past: The Shona village at Great Zimbabwe. Conservation and Management of Archaeological Sites 2(3): 3–8.
97. ↑ 97.0 97.1 Beach, D. N. (1994). A Zimbabwean past: Shona dynastic histories and oral traditions.
98. ↑ Huffman, Thomas N. (2009). "Mapungubwe and Great Zimbabwe: The origin and spread of social complexity in southern Africa". Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 28: 37–54. doi:10.1016/j.jaa.2008.10.004.
99. ↑ Nelson, Jo (2019). Historium. Big Picture Press. p. 10.
100. ↑ Summers (1970) p35
101. ↑ Chikuhwa, Jacob W. (October 2013). Zimbabwe: The End of the First Republic. Author House. p. 19. ISBN 978-1-4918-7967-2. https://books.google.com/books?id=zQ49AQAAQBAJ&pg=PR19.
102. ↑ Copson, Raymond W. (1 January 2006). Zimbabwe: Background and Issues. Nova Publishers. p. 43. ISBN 978-1-60021-176-8. https://books.google.com/books?id=2AM7XUBrrqkC&pg=PA43.
103. ↑ Isichei, Elizabeth Allo, A History of African Societies to 1870 Cambridge University Press, 1997, ISBN 978-0521455992 page 435
104. ↑ Garlake (2002)
105. ↑ Garlake (1973)
106. ↑ Garlake (1982)
107. ↑ Beach, David N. (1990) "Publishing the Past: Progress in the 'Documents from the Portuguese' Series". Zambezia, Vol. 17, No. 2, 1990, pp. 175–183.
108. ↑ Beach, David N. (1999) "Pre-colonial History, Demographic Disaster and the University". Zambezia, Vol. 26, No. 1, 1999, pp. 5–33.
109. ↑ Huffman, Thomas N. (05-1985) "The Soapstone Birds from Great Zimbabwe." African Arts, Vol. 18, No. 3, May 1985, pp. 68–73 & 99–100.
110. ↑ Gilbert Pwiti (2004). "Economic change, ideology and the development of cultural complexity in northern Zimbabwe". Azania: Archaeological Research in Africa 39: 265–282. doi:10.1080/00672700409480403.
111. ↑ Pwiti, Gilbert (1996). Continuity and change: an archaeological study of farming communities in northern Zimbabwe AD 500–1700. Studies in African Archaeology, No.13, Department of Archaeology, Uppsala University, Uppsala:.
112. ↑ 112.0 112.1 112.2 Webber Ndoro (1994). "The preservation and presentation of Great Zimbabwe". Antiquity 68 (260): 616–623. doi:10.1017/S0003598X00047128.
113. ↑ Joost Fontein (2006). "Closure at Great Zimbabwe: Local Narratives of Desecration and Alienation". Journal of Southern African Studies 32 (4): 771–794. doi:10.1080/03057070600995723.
114. ↑ Hall, Martin (1984). "The Burden of Tribalism: The Social Context of Southern African Iron Age Studies". American Antiquity 49 (3): 455–467. doi:10.2307/280354. https://usir.salford.ac.uk/id/eprint/7487/.
115. ↑ Pikirayi (2001) p11
116. ↑ Caton-Thompson (1931). The Zimbabwe Culture: ruins and reactions. Clarendon Press.
117. ↑ Garlake (2002) 23
118. ↑ Ucko (1995) 37
119. ↑ Garlake (2002) 24
120. ↑ De Baets, Antoon (2002). Censorship of Historical Thought: a World Guide 1945–2000. London: Greenwood Press. pp. 621–625. ISBN 0-313-31193-5. http://arts.eldoc.ub.rug.nl/FILES/publications/general/Historical/2002/debaets_zimbabwe/zimbabwe.pdf.
121. ↑ Garlake (2002) 23–25
122. ↑ K. Nyamayaro Mufuka; K. Muzvidzwa; J. Nemerai (1983). Dzimbahwe: Life and Politics in the Golden Age, 1100–1500 A.D.. Harare Publishing House. p. 58.
123. ↑ Garlake, Peter (1984). "Ken Mufuka and Great Zimbabwe". Antiquity 58: 121–23.
124. ↑ Fontein, Joost (2006-12-01). "Silence, Destruction and Closure at Great Zimbabwe: Local Narratives of Desecration and Alienation". Journal of Southern African Studies 32 (4): 771–794. doi:10.1080/03057070600995723. ISSN 0305-7070. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/03057070600995723.
125. ↑ 125.0 125.1 125.2 Buren, Frida. Great Zimbabwe as Illustrated. https://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:1443457/FULLTEXT01.pdf.
126. ↑ 126.0 126.1 126.2 126.3 126.4 126.5 "The Dilemma of the Presence of Great Zimbabwe Hotel within the Great Zimbabwe Monuments Cultural Landscape. – International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science" (in en-US). https://rsisinternational.org/journals/ijriss/articles/the-dilemma-of-the-presence-of-great-zimbabwe-hotel-within-the-great-zimbabwe-monuments-cultural-landscape/.

## Sources

* Garlake, Peter (1973). Great Zimbabwe: New Aspects of Archaeology. London: Thames & Hudson. ISBN 978-0-8128-1599-3.
* Garlake, Peter (1982). Great Zimbabwe. Harare: Zimbabwe Publishing House. ISBN 978-0-949932-18-1.
* Garlake, Peter (2002). Early Art and Architecture of Africa. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-284261-7. https://archive.org/details/earlyartarchitec00garl.
* Matenga, Edward (2008). Soapstone Birds of Great Zimbabwe: Symbols of a Nation. Harare: African Publishing Group. ISBN 978-1-77901-135-0.
* Pikirayi, Innocent (2001). The Zimbabwe culture: origins and decline of southern Zambezian states. Rowman Altamira. ISBN 978-0-7591-0091-6.
* Summers, Roger (1970). "The Rhodesian Iron Age". in J.D. Fage. Papers in African Prehistory. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-09566-2. https://archive.org/details/papersinafricanp0000fage.
* Ucko, Peter J. (1995). Theory in Archaeology: A World Perspective. Routledge. ISBN 978-0-203-97328-8.

## External links

| Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Great Zimbabwe.

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* Great Zimbabwe Ruins
* Great Zimbabwe entry on the UNESCO World Heritage site

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