Mapungubwe

Infobox World Heritage Site
Name = Mapungubwe Cultural Landscape


State Party = ZAF
Type = Cultural
Criteria = ii, iii, iv, v
ID = 1099
Region = Africa
Year = 2003
Session = 27th
Link = http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1099

Mapungubwe was a city in what is now northern South Africa. Flourishing from 1050 AD to 1270 AD at the confluence of the Shashe and Limpopo rivers (coord|22|2|S|29|36|E), it marked the center of a pre-Shona kingdom which covered parts of modern-day Botswana and Zimbabwe. The site of the city is now a World Heritage Site, national park, and archaeological site.

The Mapungubwe Landscape was declared a World Heritage Site on 3 July 2003.

Mapungubwe means "place where jackals eat", derived from "phunguvhwe" (Venda for jackal), as the hill was littered with human bones which attracted these scavengers. [cite book|last = du Plessis|first = E.J.|coauthors =|title = Suid-Afrikaanse berg- en riviername|publisher = Tafelberg-uitgewers, Cape Town|date = 1973|pages = p. 139|isbn = 0-624-00273X] It is a sandstone hill, with vertical cliffs about 30 metres high and a plateaued top approximately 300 m in length. The hill was inhabited for about seventy years between 1220 AD and 1290 AD.

ociety

Mapungubwean society was "the most complex in southern Africa". [ [http://www.safrica.info/ess_info/sa_glance/history/mapungubwe.htm Mapungubwe: SA's lost city of gold] ] It is thought by archaeologists to be the first class-based social system in southern Africa; that is, its leaders were separated from and higher in rank than its inhabitants.

Life in Mapungubwe was centered around family and farming. Special sites were created for initiation ceremonies, household activities, and other social functions. Cattle lived in kraals located close to the residents' houses, signifying their value.

Most speculation about society continues to be based upon the remains of buildings, since the Mapungubweans left no written or oral record.

Discovery

After Mapungubwe's fall, it was forgotten until 1932. On New Year's Eve 1932, E. S. J. van Graan, a local farmer and prospector, and his son, a former student of the University of Pretoria, discovered the wealth of artifacts on top of the hill. They reported the find to Professor Leo Fouché of the University of Pretoria, paving the way for excavations that continue to this day.

Mapungubwe's location was initially kept secret as its existence conflicted with the official South African Version of History, which, maintained that southern africa was completely uninhabited until the first Dutch settlers arrived there in 1652. The artifacts found dated from approximately 1000 AD to 1300 AD and consisted of a variety of materials such as pottery, trade glass beads, Chinese celadon ware, gold ornaments (including the famous golden rhino), ceramic figurines, organic remains, crafted ivory and bone and refined copper and iron.

Mapungubwe National Park

The area is now part of Mapungubwe National Park, which with the Tuli Block (Botswana) and the Tuli Safari area (Zimbabwe), forms part of Limpopo/Shashe Transfrontier Park.

See also

*Mapungubwe Museum
*Order of Mapungubwe
*Thuli Parks and Wildlife Land

References

External links

* [http://www.sanparks.org/parks/mapungubwe/ Mapungubwe National Park]
* [http://www.mapungubwe.com/index.html Mapungubwe] - discusses cultural aspects, as well as how to get there
* [http://www.safrica.info/ess_info/sa_glance/history/mapungubwe.htm "Mapungubwe: SA's lost city of gold"] - article about Mapungubwe's history

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