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 be...

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Autores principales:	Shadreck Chirikure, Munyaradzi Manyanga, A Mark Pollard, Foreman Bandama, Godfrey Mahachi, Innocent Pikirayi
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2014
Materias:	Medicine R Science Q
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/b5ee742be90e4c61a117512a1ae6252d
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:b5ee742be90e4c61a117512a1ae6252d2021-11-25T05:54:58ZZimbabwe culture before Mapungubwe: new evidence from Mapela Hill, South-Western Zimbabwe.1932-620310.1371/journal.pone.0111224https://doaj.org/article/b5ee742be90e4c61a117512a1ae6252d2014-01-01T00:00:00Zhttps://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0111224https://doaj.org/toc/1932-6203Across 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 11th 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 11th 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.Shadreck ChirikureMunyaradzi ManyangaA Mark PollardForeman BandamaGodfrey MahachiInnocent PikirayiPublic Library of Science (PLoS)articleMedicineRScienceQENPLoS ONE, Vol 9, Iss 10, p e111224 (2014)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Medicine R Science Q
spellingShingle	Medicine R Science Q Shadreck Chirikure Munyaradzi Manyanga A Mark Pollard Foreman Bandama Godfrey Mahachi Innocent Pikirayi Zimbabwe culture before Mapungubwe: new evidence from Mapela Hill, South-Western Zimbabwe.
description	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 11th 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 11th 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.
format	article
author	Shadreck Chirikure Munyaradzi Manyanga A Mark Pollard Foreman Bandama Godfrey Mahachi Innocent Pikirayi
author_facet	Shadreck Chirikure Munyaradzi Manyanga A Mark Pollard Foreman Bandama Godfrey Mahachi Innocent Pikirayi
author_sort	Shadreck Chirikure
title	Zimbabwe culture before Mapungubwe: new evidence from Mapela Hill, South-Western Zimbabwe.
title_short	Zimbabwe culture before Mapungubwe: new evidence from Mapela Hill, South-Western Zimbabwe.
title_full	Zimbabwe culture before Mapungubwe: new evidence from Mapela Hill, South-Western Zimbabwe.
title_fullStr	Zimbabwe culture before Mapungubwe: new evidence from Mapela Hill, South-Western Zimbabwe.
title_full_unstemmed	Zimbabwe culture before Mapungubwe: new evidence from Mapela Hill, South-Western Zimbabwe.
title_sort	zimbabwe culture before mapungubwe: new evidence from mapela hill, south-western zimbabwe.
publisher	Public Library of Science (PLoS)
publishDate	2014
url	https://doaj.org/article/b5ee742be90e4c61a117512a1ae6252d
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Zimbabwe culture before Mapungubwe: new evidence from Mapela Hill, South-Western Zimbabwe.

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