Mapungubwe: The Cradle of The Zimbabwe Culture?
Mapungubwe, also known as “The Hill of Jackals” in the vernacular is located south of the Great Zimbabwe archaeological site, at the confluence of the Shashe and the Limpopo rivers.
It was an important fortification supreme capital of a medieval kingdom which thrived between 1050 A.D. and 1250 A.D. and ruined city is now a World Heritage Site, South African National Heritage Site, a National Park Monument and an archaeological site supervised by the University of Pretoria.
At its peak, Mapungubwe was home to around 5’000 people and archaeologists, notably Thomas Huffman have suggested that it is here that the first stages in the social evolution which culminated in what is archaeological my known as The Zimbabwe Culture started.
Life at Mapungubwe was centered on farming and the family. There were special sites created for special initiation ceremonies into adulthood as well as special areas for households and other social activities.
Cattle were an important and valuable commodity for the community and the people built their cattle kraals very near to their homes.
The growth in population may have led to some full-time specialists in ceramic and pottery production. The people of the kingdom conducted gold trade with the Chinese, Indians, Egyptians and Swahili people of the East African coast.
The kingdom was likely divided into a three-tiered social hierarchy in which the commoners and the majority of the population inhabited the valleys at the base of the “Hill of Jackals “. And the surrounding low-lying areas.
The next level in the social hierarchy comprised the district administrative officials and they and a few other important people lived in prestigious homes built on top of the surrounding smaller hills.
Finally, the sacred and loyal elites spent all their time on top of the “Hill of Jackals “. The king and leader of the kingdom was likely the wealthiest individual in the society who owned the most cattle and precious materials accumulated through trade with other communities and the itinerant Swahili traders. The king was also the central figure in the sacred rain-making rituals.
The Royal wives lived in a special compound isolated from the king’s residence and those of the other elites.
At least 24 skeletons have been recovered from the Mapungubwe Hill; unfortunately, only 11 survived the excavation. The remaining skeletons literally “turned to dust on exposure to light and contact with air “. At least 3 of the 11 remaining skeletons were buried with golden artifacts and all were found arranged in the traditional Bantu burial style. They were found arranged into a sitting position, with their legs drawn up to their chests and their arms folded around their knees and all facing the West direction.
It is the hierarchical social structure with an elite group who choose to spend their lives isolated from their subjects as well as the abundance of free-standing stone-walls with no mortar between the stones associated with plastered mud dhaka floors which comprise the Zimbabwe Culture.
But was Mapungubwe really the
first?