The ancient city, Great Zimbabwe, in Zimbabwe, Africa, was once part of a large and wealthy global trading network and boasted a population between 10,000 to 20,000.
It was largely abandoned by the 15th century as the Shona people migrated, but the exact reasons for abandonment are unknown. Exhaustion of resources and overpopulation of the area were likely contributing factors, according to National Geographic.
The site itself consists of a series of structural ruins that sit on a steep hill, one of which is named the Great Enclosure, which is a walled, circular area.
The wall is over 9.7 metres high in places and was built relying on carefully shaped rocks to hold the wall’s shape.
While the function of the enclosure is known, it could have been a royal residence or a grain storage facility, but it is one of the largest existing structures from ancient sub-Saharan Africa.
Great Zimbabwe was constructed between the 11th and 14th centuries over 722 hectares in the southern part of modern Zimbabwe.
Unfortunately, significant looting occurred in the 20th century at the hands of European visitors. In their racism, European colonists thought the city was too sophisticated to have been built by Africans, and instead thought it had been built by Phoenicians or other non-African people, according to National Geographic.
In 1905, however, the British archaeologist David Randall-MacIver concluded the ruins were medieval, and built by one or more of the local African Bantu peoples.
His findings were also confirmed by another British archaeologist, Gertrude Caton-Thompson, in 1929, and this remains the consensus today.
The prosperity of the city came from its location. Its position between the gold-producing regions of the area and ports on the Mozambique coast – over time it became the heart of an extensive commercial and trading network.
Main trading items were gold, ivory and copper, and imported items discovered in the ruins included glassware ranging from Syria, to assorted Persian and Chinese ceramics.
There is still a lot to uncover about the ancient capital city, Great Zimbabwe. The city’s history is derived from archaeological evidence found on the site, as well as the oral history of the local Shona-speaking people, particularly regarding spiritual beliefs and building traditions.
Designated a Unesco World Heritage Site in 1986, the preservation of Great Zimbabwe – led by the National Museums and Monuments of Zimbabwe organisation – is now challenged by uncontrolled growth of vegetation, which threatens the stability of its dry stone walls.
The medieval city is situated in the south-eastern hills of the modern country of Zimbabwe, near Lake Mutirikwe and the town of Masvingo.
