Great Zimbabwe
 |
| Aerial view of Great Zimbabwe’s Great Enclosure and adjacent ruins, looking southeast (photo: Janice Bell, CC BY-SA 4.0) |
Great Zimbabwe is known as a stretch of stone ruins that was constructed between the 11th and 15th centuries by the Shona people (N. Demerdash, 2016). Great Zimbabwe thrived off of its trading system and their agriculture as well as maintenance of livestock. They also were believed to have a mining system put in place considering the different tools found in this area and amount of gold and copper. This structure can be cut into three different sections as they all had several purposes. The first area is known as the Hill Complex. This area was known to be the center for religious activity or anything spiritual would take place here. This section also includes a cave that was meant for the ruler of this time to stay in with his family and it was to remain a sacred place. The second area is known as the Great Enclosure is an almost circular structure with a wall that stands at approximately 32 feet tall. Inside this closure stems another wall that forms a small passageway leading towards the Conical Tower. Not much is known about this tower or what is was used for, but scholars speculate that it may have been a symbolic grain bin or some type of symbol (A. McKenna, 2006) The last area is known as the Valley Ruins which include several structures that hint towards their trade system. They are a series of huts that archeologists were able to search and find porcelain fragments, beads, and copper ingots within. It wasn't until the 15th century when the Shona people had to move elsewhere due to drought and other environmental causes that were ruining the stability of Great Zimbabwe causing the population to diminish.
 |
| Site plan of Great Zimbabwe (modified from an original plan by National Museums and Monuments ofZimbabwe) from Shadreck Chirikure and Innocent Pikirayi, “Inside and outside the dry stone walls: Revisiting the material culture of Great Zimbabwe,” Antiquity 82 (December 2015), pp. 976-993. The letters refer to the types of stone construction (see figure 4). |
https://smarthistory.org/great-zimbabwe/
Comments
Post a Comment