Today, visitors to South Africa's Mapungubwe National Park can climb one of two very narrow and steep paths to the top of Mapungubwe Hill - a sandstone hill in the shape of an oval, with sheer perpendicular cliffs that lead to a metre plateau, known as the 'place of jackals' and look across the virtually intact remains of the palace sites and the settlement area dependent upon them.
There are over archaeological sites found in the Mapungubwe area, some of which date back to 1 million years BP and show signs from the Earlier, Middle, and Later Stone Ages as well as the Iron Ages. The main concentration of sites is centred around the Limpopo-Shashe confluence which lies right on the borders of South Africa, Botswana and Zimbabwe. The kingdom was particularly powerful due to the strong culture of gold and ivory trade that prospered along the east coast of Africa.
It is suggested that the prosperity of the kingdom came to an end due to climate changes and as a result, crop failure. Towards the end of the kingdom's prosperity from AD - this trade moved north-eastwards to become the founding baseline of what would become Great Zimbabwe. Mapungubwe means "Hill of the Jackals and has been named MK by archaeologists studying the region. Some parts of the excavation have also been named more than once, like K2, an area close to the hill itself, which is also called Bambandyanalo.
The Palace living area at the top of Mapungubwe hill. Image source. The residents of Mapungubwe were, like the people of Thulamela, the ancestors of the Shona people of southern Africa. The first people in Mapungubwe were early Iron Age settlers. Their existence is confirmed by the discovery by archaeologists of a few potsherds identified as Early Iron Age pottery. This means that they manufactured their own pottery and metal tools. Like the societies of Thulamela and Great Zimbabwe, Mapungubwe was structured along social classes.
This may be seen from the location of people's houses separating leaders and commoners. The elite lived at the top of Mapungubwe and their followers stayed at the bottom of the hill and in the surrounding area. A garbage site close to K2, where commoners lived, indicates that rich and poor ate very different foods. Funeral traditions were also different.
The rich had a graveyard at the top of the hill with a beautiful view of the region. They were also buried with gold and copper ornaments and glass beads, showing the people of Mapungubwe were skilled in working with gold.
Ivory was traded with Arab merchants and contributed greatly to the wealth of the kingdom. It is difficult to find a single explanation for the desertion of Mapungubwe.
Some archaeologists feel that the kingdom began to decline in the 's because the climate changed. The weather became colder and drier and reduced the grazing land making cattle farming difficult. Others think there was a change in trade routes. Mapungubwe relied on trade and any blow to this activity would have forced people to move away.
The people of Mapungubwe were wealthy and farmed with cattle, sheep and goats, and also kept dogs. They produced large harvests that allowed them to trade and store extra food. Archaeologists found traces of millet, sorghum and cotton in the remains of storage huts. Riches also came from ivory, gold and the rich farmland caused by the flooding of the area. From about to Mapungubwe was an advanced trading centre and its inhabitants traded with Arabia, China and India through the East African harbours.
The discovery of the site in provided evidence contrary to the ideology of black inferiority supported by Apartheid , and as such it was kept quiet.
Since then, the site has been excavated by the University of Pretoria and today they have discovered a large collection of artefacts, as well as human remains, at Mapungubwe. The ancient African kingdom, Mapungubwe Hill, was established between and AD, and was home to a powerful tribe that flourished on trading with Eastern cultures.
Neighbouring Mapungubwe Hill is K2, a site which draws a lot of weight when studying the history of this reserve. Situated one kilometre 0. There is also a large refuge site at K2, from which archaeologists have been able to determine that a number of generations occupied this area over a long period of time. The site thrived as a trade centre and inhabitants were skilled craftsmen, creating a variety of artefacts, from tools to jewellery.
Mapungubwe was home to an extremely progressive culture of people for the time. They traded gold and ivory with China and India and had a flourishing agricultural industry. Mapungubwe is also the earliest known site in southern Africa where evidence of a class-based society existed. This means that the leaders were separated from the commoners. By contrast, pre-colonial sculptures demonstrated that black South Africans had occupied the region for a least 1, years before the arrival of Europeans.
Although archaeologists knew about the objects — they were reported in the press and some were exhibited albeit with restricted access — their histories and the obvious implications of their existence were not incorporated into official histories. The ANC appropriated the golden rhinoceros for the new South Africa and held it up as evidence of a southern African Renaissance before the arrival of Europeans.
In the gold rhinoceros was designated a National Treasure. In the ANC created the Order of Mapungubwe , the highest honour in South Africa, of which there are four classes: platinum, gold, silver and bronze. Nelson Mandela was the first to receive the highest of these awards, platinum.
At the centre of the award is a representation of the gold rhinoceros. In the exhibition it will sit on a world stage where it will again speak to new audiences about the importance of Mapungubwe, the pre-colonial past, the crimes of colonialism and apartheid — and the ambitions of a contemporary South Africa.
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