Great Zimbabwe was a city in the south-eastern hills of the modern country of Zimbabwe, near Masvingo. It was settled from around 1000 AD, 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 and continued until the 15th century. The city was abandoned in the 16th or 17th century. The edifices were erected by ancestors of the Shona people, who live in Zimbabwe and nearby countries. The stone city spans an area of 7.22 square kilometres (2.79 mi2). 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 site's population did not exceed 10,000. The Zimbabwe state centred on it likely covered 50,000 km² (19,000 sq mi). 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). It also contained area for commoner housing within the perimeter walls. Scholars disagree on the functions of the complexes. Some believe them to have been residences for royals and elites at different periods, while others suggest they had separate functions. The Great Enclosure, with its 11 m (36 ft) high dry stone walls (constructed without mortar), was built during the 13th and 14th centuries, and likely served as the royal residence, with demarcated public spaces for rituals.
The first confirmed visits by Europeans were in the latter 19th century, with investigations of the site starting in 1871. 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 did not become consensus among scholars until 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. More than 400 such sites have been identified across southern Africa, such as Bumbusi in Zimbabwe and Manyikeni in Mozambique, with monumental, mortarless walls.
Name
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'".
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'). 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.
History and description
Settlement
The Great Zimbabwe area was previously settled by the San, dating back 100,000 years. Starting around 150 BC, Bantu-speaking peoples settled there, forming agricultural chiefdoms starting in the 4th century AD. 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. These are the earliest Iron Age settlements in the area identified from archaeological diggings.
The later Gumanye people are considered the ancestors of the Karanga (south-central Shona), who would construct Great Zimbabwe. Their culture developed and lasted centuries.
Construction and growth
Construction of the stone buildings started in the 11th century and continued for over 300 years. Agriculture and cattle were the basis of the people developing a vital social network, and served to "enfranchise management of goods and services distributed as benefits within traditional political and social institutions". Long-distance trade was crucial for the transformation of localised organisations into regional ones. The ruling dynasty used their wealth to have houses built out of thick daga (earthen daub), rather than daga and poles, and built stone walls to shield themselves from public view. The aforementioned process advanced rapidly in the 13th century, and resulted in the construction of large dry-stone walls.
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. 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 (known as Mwari). 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. They also preserved the traditions of the founders, who he says were Chigwagu Rusvingo (the first mambo), Chaminuka, Chimurenga, Tovera, and Soro-rezhou among others (see mhondoro).
Traditional estimates are that Great Zimbabwe had as many as 18,000 inhabitants at its peak. However, a more recent survey concluded that the population likely never exceeded 10,000. 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. The majority of the population lived in houses made of mud on wooden frame structures; 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.
Features of the ruins
In 1531, Vicente Pegado, Captain of the Portuguese Garrison of Sofala, described Zimbabwe thus:
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
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. 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. 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. The Valley Complex is divided into the Upper and Lower Valley Ruins, with different periods of occupation.
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. 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. 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.
Dhaka pits were closed depressions used 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.
Notable artefacts
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. 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. Other artefacts include soapstone figurines (one of which is in the British Museum), 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. Glass beads and porcelain from China and Persia 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 god in Shona culture.
Trade
Great Zimbabwe became a centre for trading, having replaced Mapungubwe around 1300. 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. Traders travelled the Save and Runde rivers, possibly using locally-produced canoes. Through Swahili city-states such as Sofala, they exported gold and ivory into the Indian Ocean trade. The Swahili coastal trading cities acted as intermediaries that linked inland African trade networks with merchants who were operating across the Indian Ocean.That international commerce was in addition to the local agricultural trade, in which cattle were especially important. The large cattle herd that supplied the city moved seasonally and was managed by the court. Chinese pottery shards, coins from Arabia, glass beads and other non-local items have been excavated at Zimbabwe. Archeological evidence shows that some of the imported ceramics included Longquan green-glazed stoneware and blue-and-white porcelain that dates to the 14th and 15th centuries. These artifacts likely reached Great Zimbabwe through distribution networks that were connected to Swahili coastal ports, like Kilwa Kisiwani. Despite these strong international trade links, there is no evidence to suggest exchange of architectural concepts between Great Zimbabwe and centres such as Kilwa.
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. 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. The excavations had revealed clay containers, crucibles, and tools which were used to heat gold and turn it into wire, beads, or decorative accessories. 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.
Decline
It is unknown what caused Great Zimbabwe's demise and its eventual abandonment. 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. 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. It is plausible that the aquifer under Great Zimbabwe ran out of water, or the growing population contaminated the water.
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. 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. It was believed that only their most recent ancestors would follow them, with older ancestors staying at Great Zimbabwe and providing protection there. 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. 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.