Mapungubwe Cultural Landscape - South Africa

The Mapungubwe Cultural Landscape washighly advanced indigenous society existing
inscribed in 2003 as a cultural heritage site.centuries before European colonialism across
Located in Limpopo province, Mapungubwe is setAfrica ran contrary to the racist ideology of
hard against the northern border of South Africa,apartheid.
joining Zimbabwe and Botswana. It is an open,Nevertheless, the university now has a rich
expansive savannah landscape at the confluencecollection of artefacts made of gold and other
of the Limpopo and Shashe rivers.materials, as well as human remains, discovered
Mapungubwe - "place of the stone wisdom" - wasthere. Also revealed was a court sheltered in a
South Africa's first kingdom, and developed intonatural amphitheatre at the bottom of the hill, and
the subcontinent's largest realm, lasting for 400an elite graveyard at the top - with a spectacular
years before it was abandoned in the 14thview of the region. Twenty-three graves have
century. Its highly sophisticated people traded goldbeen excavated from the site.
and ivory with China, India and Egypt.The bodies in three of the graves were buried in
What survives are the remains of the palace sitesthe upright seated position associated with
and also the entire settlement area dependentroyalty, with a variety of gold and copper items,
upon them, as well as two earlier capital sites, theexotic glass beads, and other prestigious objects.
whole presenting an unrivalled picture of theThese finds provide evidence not only of the
development of social and political structures overearly smithing of gold in South Africa, but of the
some 400 years.extensive wealth and social differentiation of the
The remains in the Mapungubwe Culturalpeople of Mapungubwe.
Landscape are a remarkably complete testimonyThe most spectacular of the gold discoveries is a
to the growth and subsequent decline of thelittle gold rhinoceros, made of gold foil and tacked
Mapungubwe state which at its height was thewith minute pins around a wooden core. The
largest kingdom in the African sub-continent.rhino, featured in one of South Africa's new
Evidence is contained here for an importantnational orders - the Order of Mapungubwe - has
interchange of human values that led tocome to symbolise the high culture of
far-reaching cultural and social changes in SouthernMapungubwe. The rhino is also a symbol of
Africa between AD 900 and 1300.leadership among the Shona people of Zimbabwe.
The establishment of Mapungubwe as a powerfulOther artefacts made in similar fashion include the
state trading through the East African ports withGolden Sceptre and the Golden Bowl, found in the
Arabia and India was a significant stage in thesame grave on Mapungubwe Hill.
history of the African sub-continent. The remainsIn the village neighbouring Mapungubwe, called K2,
in the Mapungubwe cultural landscape graphicallyan ancient refuse site has provided archaeologists
illustrate the impact of climate change and recordwith plenty of information about the lifestyles of
the growth and then decline of the kingdom ofthe people of Mapungubwe.
Mapungubwe as a clear record of a culture thatMapungubwe National Park:
became vulnerable to irreversible change.Most of Africa's big game still occurs in the area
A free-standing structure rising 30 metres aboveand the bird, reptile, invertebrate and plant
the surrounding grasslands, Mapungubwe is toppeddiversity is still rich. While the park currently has
by impregnable cliffs all around. Since its discoverylimited facilities, visitors to the area can make use
in 1932, this Iron Age site has been excavated byof privately run facilities. The highlight of the park
the University of Pretoria.is the Mapungubwe Archaeological Site. This
However, the findings were kept fro publiclocation was a precursor to Great Zimbabwe and
attention until 1993, just prior to South Africa'sThulamela. It was also the location where the Gold
first democratic elections, because evidence of aRhino and many other artefacts were uncovered.