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Mapela, Zimbabwe
Mapela Hill is an archaeological site located in southwestern Zimbabwe, 90km northwest of Mapungubwe. Description The town flourished between 1055 and 1400. The site was likely chosen for settlement due to the association of hills with rainmaking. The site is strong evidence for the multidirectional evolution of socio-political complexity in the Zambezi culture, contradicting the traditional assumption of linear evolution where Leopard's Kopje led directly and solely to Great Zimbabwe. Excavations at Mapela Hill discovered large stone walls dating from the 11th century, organised in a structure known as ''dzimbahwe'' in Shona, in which elites were enclosed with commoners outside. This embedded class distinction and sacral kingship, with the site nearly 200 years earlier than Mapungubwe The Kingdom of Mapungubwe (pronounced ) was an ancient state located at the confluence of the Shashe River, Shashe and Limpopo River, Limpopo rivers in South Africa, south of Great Zimbabwe. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mapungubwe
The Kingdom of Mapungubwe (pronounced ) was an ancient state located at the confluence of the Shashe River, Shashe and Limpopo River, Limpopo rivers in South Africa, south of Great Zimbabwe. The capital's population was 5,000 by 1250, and the state likely covered 30,000 km² (12,000 square miles). The Mapungubwe elite further institutionalised Rainmaking (ritual), rainmaking into the development of sacral kingship, and the kingdom exported gold and ivory into the Indian Ocean trade via Zanj, Swahili city-states on the East African coast. Although traditionally assumed to have been the first kingdom in Southern Africa, excavations in the same region at Mapela, Zimbabwe, Mapela Hill show evidence for sacral kingship nearly 200 years earlier. Following unknown events and shifting trade routes north around 1300, Mapungubwe's population scattered. In the present day they are often associated with the Kalanga people, Kalanga (Shona people, Shona), Tshivhula, and Venda people, Venda p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rainmaking (ritual)
Rainmaking is a weather modification ritual that attempts to invoke rain. It is based on the belief that humans can influence nature, Spirit (animating force), spirits, or the Ancestor worship, ancestors who withhold or bring rain. Among the best known examples of weather modification rituals are North American rain dances, historically performed by many Native Americans in the United States, Native American tribes, particularly in the Southwestern United States. Some of these weather modification rituals are still implemented today. American Rainmakers Julia M. Buttree (the wife of Ernest Thompson Seton) describes the rain dance of the Zuni people, Zuni, along with other Native American dances, in her book ''The Rhythm of the Redman''. Feathers and turquoise, or other blue items, are worn during the ceremony to symbolize wind and rain respectively. Details on how best to perform the Rain Dance have been passed down by oral tradition. In an early sort of meteorology, Native Am ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Leopard's Kopje
Leopard's Kopje is an archaeological site, the type site of the associated region or culture that marked the Middle Iron Age in Zimbabwe. The ceramics from the Leopard's Kopje type site have been classified as part of phase II of the Leopard's Kopje culture. For information on the region of Leopard's Kopje, see the "Associated sites" section of this article. Location The site is located 2 kilometers north-east of the Khami World Heritage Site and 24 kilometers west of Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. Bordered by small hills, or koppies, on two sides and sharp ravines on the other two sides. The site is relatively small, measuring 150 by 200 yards in area. History K. R. Robinson conducted several excavations in the area, beginning in 1961. Thomas Huffman, who first excavated Leopard's Kopje in August 1969, is also an important archaeologist of the site. Huffman's excavations found three different phases of occupation, Zhizo, Mambo, and Refuge. Refuge phase The occupation from the 1 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Great Zimbabwe
Great Zimbabwe was a city in the south-eastern hills of the modern country of Zimbabwe, near Masvingo. It was settled from 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 until the 15th century, and it was abandoned in the 16th or 17th century. The edifices were erected by ancestors of the Shona people, currently located in Zimbabwe and nearby countries. The stone city spans an area of and could have housed up to 18,000 people at its peak, giving it a population density of approximately . 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), and contained area for commoner housing within the per ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shona Language
Shona ( ; ) is a Bantu language spoken by the Shona people of Zimbabwe and Mozambique. The term is variously used to collectively describe all the Central Shonic varieties (comprising Zezuru, Manyika, Korekore and Karanga or Ndau) or specifically Standard Shona, a variety codified in the mid-20th century. Using the broader term, the language is spoken by over 14 million people. The larger group of historically related languages—called Shona languages, Shona or Shonic languages by linguists—also includes Ndau dialect, Ndau (Eastern Shona) and Kalanga language, Kalanga (Western Shona). In Malcolm Guthrie, Guthrie's classification of Bantu languages, zone S.10 designates the Shonic group. Similar languages Shona is closely related to Ndau dialect, Ndau, Kalanga language, Kalanga and is related to Tonga language (Zambia and Zimbabwe), Tonga, Chewa language, Chewa, Tumbuka language, Tumbuka, Tsonga language, Tsonga and Venda language, Venda. Ndau and Kalanga are former diale ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sacral Kingship
In many historical societies, the position of kingship carried a sacral meaning and was identical with that of a high priest and judge. Divine kingship is related to the concept of theocracy, although a sacred king need not necessarily rule through his religious authority; rather, the temporal position itself has a religious significance behind it. The monarch may ''be'' divine, ''become'' divine, or ''represent'' divinity to a greater or lesser extent. In sacred kingship the king often has little political power, and is contrasted with divine kingship where the king triumphs in the politicoreligious struggle between the people and the king. A sacred king is often encumbered with rituals and used as a scapegoat for disasters such as famine and drought, however can become divine and achieve greater power. History Sir James George Frazer used the concept of the sacred king in his study '' The Golden Bough'' (1890–1915), the title of which refers to the myth of the Rex ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Archaeological Sites In Zimbabwe
Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, archaeological site, sites, and cultural landscapes. Archaeology can be considered both a social science and a branch of the humanities. It is usually considered an independent academic discipline, but may also be classified as part of anthropology (in North America – the four-field approach), history or geography. The discipline involves Survey (archaeology), surveying, Archaeological excavation, excavation, and eventually Post excavation, analysis of data collected, to learn more about the past. In broad scope, archaeology relies on cross-disciplinary research. Archaeologists study human prehistory and history, from the development of the first stone tools at Lomekwi in East Africa 3.3 million years ago up until recent decades. A ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
