2008/12/01 by Shadreck Chirikure, Innocent Pikirayi · 3 citations
Social Sciences · #African studies and sociopolitical issues #Anthropological Studies and Insights #Archaeology and Rock Art Studies
paper · pdf · doi:10.1017/s0003598x00097726
openalex publication_date 2008/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/04
Abstract ‘Any study of Great Zimbabwe has to rely a great deal on re-examining and re-assessing the work of early investigators, the men who removed all the most important finds from the ruins and stripped them of so much of their deposits’ (Garlake 1973: 14). The authors have here done us a great service in reviewing the surviving archaeological evidence from this world famous site. They challenge the structuralist interpretation – in which different parts of the site were allocated to kings, priests, wives or to circumcision rituals – and use the architectural, stratigraphic and artefactual evidence accumulated over the years to present a new sequence. The early enclosures on the hill, the Great Enclosure and the valley enclosures now appear as the work of successive rulers, each founding a new residence and power centre in accord with Shona practice.