The Zimbabwe Culture: Origins and Decline of Southern Zambezian States

by Innocent Pikirayi, Joseph O. Vogel

Overview

Offering a unique and original perspective on the rise and fall of indigenous states of southern Zambezia, The Zimbabwe Culture analyzes the long contentious history of the remains of the remarkable cyclopean masonry, ranging from mighty capitals of traditional kings to humble farmsteads. Forming a cornerstone of the geographical lore of Africa in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, debate on the origins, development, and collapse of the Zimbabwe culture has never ceased, and with increasing archaeological research over the twentieth century, has become more complex. Thoroughly examining the growth and decline of pre-colonial states on the entire Zimbabwean Plateau and southern Zambezia, Dr. Pikirayi has contributed tremendously towards the archaeological understanding of this extraordinary culture. The Zimbabwe Culture is essential reading for all students and avocationalists of African archaeology, history, and culture.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780759100909
Publisher:	AltaMira Press
Publication date:	03/14/2001
Series:	African Archaeology Series
Pages:	336
Sales rank:	1,036,419
Product dimensions:	6.12(w) x 9.26(h) x 1.01(d)

About the Author

Innocent Pikirayi is Professor of History at University of Zimbabwe, Harare

Table of Contents

	List of Figures	ix
	Foreword: "Ruins in a Wild Land"	xv
	Preface	xxiii
	Acknowledgments	xxiv
	A Brief Word on Sources	xxvi
1	Background to the Study of Precolonial Southern Zambezia	1
	The Zimbabwe Plateau in Relation to Zambezia	5
	Themes and Trends in Zimbabwe Archaeology	5
	The Historiography of the Precolonial Period	24
	A Summing Up	32
2	The Landscapes of Southern Zambezia	37
	The Influence of Landscapes	38
	Physiography	41
	Droughts and Famine-Related Disasters	51
	Distribution of Resources: A Comment on Ecological Zones	55
	Shifting Patterns	59
	A Summing Up	63
3	The Pioneers: Early Herdsmen and Village Farmers	73
	The First Herdsmen	73
	The Coming of the Bantu	77
	The Emergence of Farming Villages	80
	Early Contacts with the Indian Ocean Trading Networks	90
	A Summing Up	93
4	Cattle, Ivory and Gold; Traders, Chiefs, and Kings: Political Centralization in the Shashe-Limpopo Basin, 950-1280	97
	Toward Political Centralization in Zambezia	100
	The Emergence of Chiefdoms in the Limpopo Valley and Eastern Botswana	106
	Mapungubwe and Mapela: Early State Formation in the Shashe-Limpopo Basin	110
	Environmental Change and Settlement Shifts	116
	A Summing Up	121
5	Cattle, Gold, and Copper; Traders, Chiefs, and Kings: The Rise, Development, and Fall of Great Zimbabwe, 1290-1450	123
	Origins and Dating	124
	Great Zimbabwe as an Urban Complex and the Center of a State	129
	The Economic Basis of the Great Zimbabwe State	140
	The Status of Outlying Zimbabwe	142
	Some Thoughts on the Rise of Great Zimbabwe	147
	Decline	150
	A Summing Up	153
6	Kings, Conquistadores, and Rebels: The Mutapa State and the Portuguese, 1450-1900	157
	Early Peasant and Chiefdom Societies of the Northern Zimbabwe Plateau	158
	State Organization Comes to Northern Zimbabwe	163
	Portuguese Trade and the Mutapa State, 1505-1680	176
	The Emergence of Fortifications	181
	The Mutapa State in the Zambezi Lowlands, 1700-1900	192
	A Summing Up	194
7	Cattle Barons and Generals of the Southwest: The Torwa and Rozvi-Changamire States, c. 1450-1860	197
	The Torwa State, 1450-1680	198
	The Rozvi-Changamire State	209
	Early Rozvi Dispersion: Links with Nambya and Venda Peoples	215
	The Mfecane and Demise of the Rozvi	217
	A Summing Up	219
8	Merchant Capital, Karanga Migrations, and the Arrival of the Nguni and the British	221
	The Portuguese and the Feira-Based Trade	222
	The Manyika of Eastern Zimbabwe	230
	Disintegration and Disruption: The Central and Eastern Plateau Populations and Karanga Migrations	235
	The Nguni Interlude	238
	European Invasion from the South and the Inception of Colonial Rule	240
	A Summing Up	242
9	Conclusions: The Place of the Zimbabwe Plateau in Zambezia	245
	Interactions along the Zambezi	250
	Role of Ideology and Ritual	252
	The Role of the Environment in Political Centralization	257
	The Role of Trade in the Expansion of States	260
	Merchant Capital and the Decline of States	262
	Some Unanswered Questions	264
	A Summing Up	266
	Bibliography	269
	Author Index	287
	Subject Index	291
	About the Author	305

Editorial Reviews

Innocent Pikirayi's Zimbabwe Culture is the latest synthesis [in the literature on Great Zimbabwe], and by far the best...Pikirayi takes his reader through the fascinating and often frustrating border zone between archaeology and history, all the while keeping his eye on the major theme—the unfolding history of the southern African state that had a key place in the subcontinent's early history.

Journal of African History - Martin Hall

Pikirayi skillfully marshals archaeological, historical, environmental, and ethnographic data to explain social dynamics while telling an engaging tale of the rise and fall of these important feudal kingdoms.

Choice Reviews - A. F. Roberts

Archaeologycal discussions of the Great Zimbabwe rarely attempt to cover both the formative and later periods of Zambezian prehistory. Pikirayi's book is a welcome exception in this regard and does a good job of not only summarizing the earlier periods of political centralization, but also continuing into the protohistoric period to explore the complex impact of Portuguese adventurism on the internal development and fragmentation of post-Zimbabwe kindgoms on the Zambezian highveld....It covers a tremondous amount of ground, yet remains readable and informative.

James Denbown Antiquity

Ever since the ancient monumental towns of central Africa first became known to Westerners in the sixteenth century, they were shrouded in 'mystery'—a mystification most undeserved that has often blurred their true significance in the history of African civilization. Dr. Pikirayi, from the unique perspective of one knowledgeable in the cultural and physical landscapes, as well as the archaeology of Zimbabwe, through the medium of current investigations and interpretation, unravels the tangled skein woven by some early observers. His is a refreshing, up-to-date look at the most monumental of the great autochtonous states of southern Africa.

From The Foreword - Dr. Joseph Vogel

Pikirayi skillfully marshals archaeological, historical, environmental, and ethnographic data to explain social dynamics while telling an engaging tale of the rise and fall of these important feudal kingdoms.

CHOICE - A.F. Roberts

Pikirayi skillfully marshals archaeological, historical, environmental, and ethnographic data to explain social dynamics while telling an engaging tale of the rise and fall of these important feudal kingdoms.
— A.F. Roberts, (University of California, Los Angeles)

Choice

Since the monumental architecture of the Zimbabwe Plateau first became known to Westerners in the 16th century, speculation about the people that created it has been continuous and inventive. Tales of strongholds in the interior were taken home by the first Portuguese chroniclers of the Swahili coast, and their narratives became part of the geographic lore of the 17th and 18th centuries. In the mid-19th century, the lore was spun into fantastic and mysterious yarns about long-lost riches that lured adventurers and traders. Pikirayi (history, U. of Zimbabwe) aims to set the record straight by examining the growth of precolonial states on the plateau and adjacent regions, with a focus on the their historical and cultural development during the second millennium AD. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Booknews

Archaeologycal discussions of the Great Zimbabwe rarely attempt to cover both the formative and later periods of Zambezian prehistory. Pikirayi's book is a welcome exception in this regard and does a good job of not only summarizing the earlier periods of political centralization, but also continuing into the protohistoric period to explore the complex impact of Portuguese adventurism on the internal development and fragmentation of post-Zimbabwe kindgoms on the Zambezian highveld....It covers a tremondous amount of ground, yet remains readable and informative.

Vol. 67.4 (2002) James Denbown Antiquity

Archaeologycal discussions of the Great Zimbabwe rarely attempt to cover both the formative and later periods of Zambezian prehistory. Pikirayi's book is a welcome exception in this regard and does a good job of not only summarizing the earlier periods of political centralization, but also continuing into the protohistoric period to explore the complex impact of Portuguese adventurism on the internal development and fragmentation of post-Zimbabwe kindgoms on the Zambezian highveld....It covers a tremondous amount of ground, yet remains readable and informative.

American Antiquity, Vol. 67.4 (2002) - James Denbow

Archaeologycal discussions of the Great Zimbabwe rarely attempt to cover both the formative and later periods of Zambezian prehistory. Pikirayi's book is a welcome exception in this regard and does a good job of not only summarizing the earlier periods of political centralization, but also continuing into the protohistoric period to explore the complex impact of Portuguese adventurism on the internal development and fragmentation of post-Zimbabwe kindgoms on the Zambezian highveld....It covers a tremondous amount of ground, yet remains readable and informative.--James Denbow, University of Texas at Austin "American Antiquity, Vol. 67.4 (2002) "

Pikirayi skillfully marshals archaeological, historical, environmental, and ethnographic data to explain social dynamics while telling an engaging tale of the rise and fall of these important feudal kingdoms.--A. F. Roberts, University of California "CHOICE "

Innocent Pikirayi's Zimbabwe Culture is the latest synthesis [in the literature on Great Zimbabwe], and by far the best...Pikirayi takes his reader through the fascinating and often frustrating border zone between archaeology and history, all the while keeping his eye on the major theme--the unfolding history of the southern African state that had a key place in the subcontinent's early history.--Martin Hall, University of Cape Town "Journal of African History, Vol. 44 (2003) "

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