What kind of discoveries prove that the Great Zimbabwe was a kingdom built on trade
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Great Zimbabwe is a ruined city in the south-eastern hills of Zimbabwe near Lake Mutirikwe and the town of Masvingo. It was the capital of the Kingdom of Zimbabwe during the country's Late Iron Age. Construction on the city began in the 11th century and continued until it was abandoned in the 15th century.[1][2] The edifices were erected by the ancestral Shona.[2] The stone city spans an area of 7.22 square kilometres (1,780 acres) which, at its peak, could have housed up to 18,000 people. It is recognised as a World Heritage site by UNESCO.
Great Zimbabwe
Great-Zimbabwe-2.jpg
Great Zimbabwe: Tower in the Great Enclosure.
Great Zimbabwe is located in ZimbabweGreat Zimbabwe
Shown within Zimbabwe
Location
Masvingo Province, Zimbabwe
Coordinates
20°16′S 30°56′E
Type
Settlement
Part of
Kingdom of Zimbabwe
Area
7.22 square kilometres (1,780 acres)
History
Founded
11th century
Abandoned
15th century
Periods
Late Iron Age
Cultures
Kingdom of Zimbabwe
Site notes
UNESCO World Heritage Site
Official name
Great Zimbabwe National Monument
Criteria
Cultural: i, iii, vi
Reference
364
Inscription
1986 (10th Session)
Great Zimbabwe is believed to have served as a royal palace for the local monarch. As such, it would have been used as the seat of political power. Among the edifice's most prominent features were its walls, some of which were over five metres high. They were constructed without mortar (dry stone). Eventually, the city was abandoned and fell into ruin.
The earliest known written mention of the Great Zimbabwe ruins was in 1531 by Vicente Pegado, captain of the Portuguese garrison of Sofala, on the coast of modern-day Mozambique, who recorded it as Symbaoe. The first confirmed visits by Europeans were in the late 19th century, with investigations of the site starting in 1871.[3] Later, studies of the monument were controversial in the archaeological world, with political pressure being put upon archaeologists by the government of Rhodesia to deny its construction by native African people.[4] Great Zimbabwe has since been adopted as a national monument by the Zimbabwean government, and the modern independent state was named after it. The word great distinguishes the site from the many hundreds of small ruins, now known as "zimbabwes", spread across the Zimbabwe Highveld.[5] There are 200 such sites in southern Africa, such as Bumbusi in Zimbabwe and Manyikeni in Mozambique, with monumental, mortarless walls; Great Zimbabwe is the largest of these.[6]
Name
Description
History of research and origins of the ruins
Political implications
The Great Zimbabwe University
Gallery
See also
Notes
Sources
External links
Last edited 3 days ago by Doug Weller
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