22 research outputs found
Zimbabwe culture before Mapungubwe: new evidence from Mapela Hill, South-Western Zimbabwe
Across the globe, the emergence of complex societies excites intense academic debate in archaeology and allied disciplines. Not surprisingly, in southern Africa the traditional assumption that the evolution of socio-political complexity began with ideological transformations from K2 to Mapungubwe between CE1200 and 1220 is clouded in controversy. It is believed that the K2−Mapungubwe transitions crystallised class distinction and sacred leadership, thought to be the key elements of the Zimbabwe culture on Mapungubwe Hill long before they emerged anywhere else. From Mapungubwe (CE1220-1290), the Zimbabwe culture was expressed at Great Zimbabwe (CE1300-1450) and eventually Khami (CE1450-1820). However, new fieldwork at Mapela Hill, when coupled with a Bayesian chronology, offers tremendous fresh insights which refute this orthodoxy. Firstly, Mapela possesses enormous prestige stone-walled terraces whose initial construction date from the 11 th century CE, almost two hundred years earlier than Mapungubwe. Secondly, the basal levels of the Mapela terraces and hilltop contain élite solid dhaka (adobe) floors associated with K2 pottery and glass beads. Thirdly, with a hilltop and flat area occupation since the 11 th century CE, Mapela exhibits evidence of class distinction and sacred leadership earlier than K2 and Mapungubwe, the supposed propagators of the Zimbabwe culture. Fourthly, Mapungubwe material culture only appeared later in the Mapela sequence and therefore post-dates the earliest appearance of stone walling and dhaka floors at the site. Since stone walls, dhaka floors and class distinction are the essence of the Zimbabwe culture, their earlier appearance at Mapela suggests that Mapungubwe can no longer be regarded as the sole cradle of the Zimbabwe culture. This demands not just fresh ways of accounting for the rise of socio-political complexity in southern Africa, but also significant adjustments to existing models
Recommended from our members
Space use and site structure : an ethnoarchaeological study of Shona settlement patterning
This thesis was digitised by the British Library from microfilm. You can acquire a single copy of this thesis for research purposes by clicking on the padlock icon on the thesis file. Please be aware that the text in the supplied thesis pdf file may not be as clear as text in a thesis that was born digital or digitised directly from paper due to the conversion in format. However, all of the theses in Apollo that were digitised from microfilm are readable and have been processed by optical character recognition (OCR) technology which means the reader can search and find text within the document. If you are the author of this thesis and would like to make your work openly available, please contact us: [email protected]
Mapungubwe-type glass beads from the glass bead cache (see Figure 7) on the edge of a lower terrace, northern side of Mapela.
<p>Mapungubwe-type glass beads from the glass bead cache (see <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0111224#pone-0111224-g007" target="_blank">Figure 7</a>) on the edge of a lower terrace, northern side of Mapela.</p
A section of Trench 1, Excavation Area 1 on the northern flats.
<p>A section of Trench 1, Excavation Area 1 on the northern flats.</p
The location of Mapela in relation to other important sites in the region around present-day Zimbabwe.
<p>The location of Mapela in relation to other important sites in the region around present-day Zimbabwe.</p
A succession of fired floors on the northern edge of the summit.
<p>A succession of fired floors on the northern edge of the summit.</p
Presents the unmodelled and modelled dates for the samples from Mapela.
<p>Presents the unmodelled and modelled dates for the samples from Mapela.</p
Map of Mapela (CE1055–1400), its size and significant number of stone walls.
<p>Map of Mapela (CE1055–1400), its size and significant number of stone walls.</p
The extensive terrace walls where Excavation Area 2 (Terrace Excavation) (see Figure 5) was situated: Note the buffalo grass on the top section of the terrace and dung clearly visible on the edges without grass.
<p>The extensive terrace walls where Excavation Area 2 (Terrace Excavation) (see <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0111224#pone-0111224-g005" target="_blank">Figure 5</a>) was situated: Note the buffalo grass on the top section of the terrace and dung clearly visible on the edges without grass.</p
Cupules located on the eastern edge of the north-facing cliff at Mapela.
<p>Cupules located on the eastern edge of the north-facing cliff at Mapela.</p