Zimbabwe culture before Mapungubwe: new evidence from Mapela Hill, South-Western Zimbabwe

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dc.contributor.authorChirikure, Shadrecken_ZA
dc.contributor.authorManyanga, Munyaradzien_ZA
dc.contributor.authorPollard, A Marken_ZA
dc.contributor.authorBandama, Foremanen_ZA
dc.contributor.authorMahachi, Godfreyen_ZA
dc.contributor.authorPikirayi, Innocenten_ZA
dc.date.accessioned2015-11-18T07:07:52Z
dc.date.available2015-11-18T07:07:52Z
dc.date.issued2014en_ZA
dc.description.abstractAcross 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.en_ZA
dc.identifier.apacitationChirikure, S., Manyanga, M., Pollard, A. M., Bandama, F., Mahachi, G., & Pikirayi, I. (2014). Zimbabwe culture before Mapungubwe: new evidence from Mapela Hill, South-Western Zimbabwe. <i>PLoS One</i>, http://hdl.handle.net/11427/15130en_ZA
dc.identifier.chicagocitationChirikure, Shadreck, Munyaradzi Manyanga, A Mark Pollard, Foreman Bandama, Godfrey Mahachi, and Innocent Pikirayi "Zimbabwe culture before Mapungubwe: new evidence from Mapela Hill, South-Western Zimbabwe." <i>PLoS One</i> (2014) http://hdl.handle.net/11427/15130en_ZA
dc.identifier.citationChirikure, S., Manyanga, M., Pollard, A. M., Bandama, F., Mahachi, G., & Pikirayi, I. (2013). Zimbabwe culture before Mapungubwe: new evidence from Mapela Hill, South-Western Zimbabwe. PloS one, 9(10), e111224. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0111224en_ZA
dc.identifier.ris TY - Journal Article AU - Chirikure, Shadreck AU - Manyanga, Munyaradzi AU - Pollard, A Mark AU - Bandama, Foreman AU - Mahachi, Godfrey AU - Pikirayi, Innocent AB - 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. DA - 2014 DB - OpenUCT DO - 10.1371/journal.pone.0111224 DP - University of Cape Town J1 - PLoS One LK - https://open.uct.ac.za PB - University of Cape Town PY - 2014 T1 - Zimbabwe culture before Mapungubwe: new evidence from Mapela Hill, South-Western Zimbabwe TI - Zimbabwe culture before Mapungubwe: new evidence from Mapela Hill, South-Western Zimbabwe UR - http://hdl.handle.net/11427/15130 ER - en_ZA
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11427/15130
dc.identifier.urihttp://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0111224
dc.identifier.vancouvercitationChirikure S, Manyanga M, Pollard AM, Bandama F, Mahachi G, Pikirayi I. Zimbabwe culture before Mapungubwe: new evidence from Mapela Hill, South-Western Zimbabwe. PLoS One. 2014; http://hdl.handle.net/11427/15130.en_ZA
dc.language.isoengen_ZA
dc.publisherPublic Library of Scienceen_ZA
dc.publisher.departmentDepartment of Archaeologyen_ZA
dc.publisher.facultyFaculty of Scienceen_ZA
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Cape Town
dc.rightsThis is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.en_ZA
dc.rights.holder© 2014 Chirikure et alen_ZA
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0en_ZA
dc.sourcePLoS Oneen_ZA
dc.source.urihttp://journals.plos.org/plosoneen_ZA
dc.subject.otherZimbabween_ZA
dc.subject.otherArchaeological datingen_ZA
dc.subject.otherRadioactive carbon datingen_ZA
dc.subject.otherArchaeologyen_ZA
dc.subject.otherCeramicsen_ZA
dc.subject.otherStratigraphyen_ZA
dc.subject.otherCultureen_ZA
dc.subject.otherAfricaen_ZA
dc.titleZimbabwe culture before Mapungubwe: new evidence from Mapela Hill, South-Western Zimbabween_ZA
dc.typeJournal Articleen_ZA
uct.type.filetypeText
uct.type.filetypeImage
uct.type.publicationResearchen_ZA
uct.type.resourceArticleen_ZA
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