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c. 1100-1450 CEReputable source · 2 sourcesWell documented

Great Zimbabwe Rises on the Gold-Rich Plateau

Shona builders raise Africa's largest ancient monument south of the Sahara, entirely without mortar

On the timeline · around c. 1100-1450 CE · Great Zimbabwe and the Swahili CoastGhana, the Camel, and the Spread of IslamGreat Zimbabwe and the Swahili CoastGreat Zimbabwe Rises on the Gold-Rich Plateau950 CE10001050110011501200

Quick facts

Builders
Shona (Bantu-speaking, Iron Age)
Peak population
Over 10,000
Trade partners found in ruins
China, Persia, Kilwa (coins)
Abandoned
c. 1450 CE

What happened

Great Zimbabwe was founded in the 11th century CE by the Shona, a Bantu-speaking Iron Age people, on a site that had seen only sparse earlier occupation. The city's Great Enclosure, a massive dry-stone circuit wall and conical tower built without mortar, is the largest ancient monument in Africa south of the Sahara. By the 14th century Great Zimbabwe was the capital of a major state controlling gold-rich plateau land, with a population exceeding 10,000. Archaeological excavation has recovered glass beads and porcelain from China and Persia and gold and Arab coins from Kilwa inside the ruins, physical proof that the city's gold and ivory trade reached the Swahili coast ports of Sofala and Kilwa and, through them, the Indian Ocean world. The site was abandoned around 1450 CE, likely because the surrounding hinterland could no longer feed the overpopulated city and because of deforestation.

Why it matters

The stone architecture at Great Zimbabwe was so far outside colonial-era expectations of African capability that 19th and early 20th century European visitors insisted it must have been built by outsiders, Phoenicians, Arabs, anyone but the Shona. The archaeology settled the question: it is a wholly indigenous achievement, and the Chinese and Persian porcelain found inside it are direct evidence of how far its gold trade reached.

How we know

UNESCO's World Heritage documentation and the World History Encyclopedia both rely on excavation findings, including the imported ceramics and coins recovered at the site, which date the trade contact and help explain the settlement's decline around 1450 CE.

Sources

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Part of a timelineMedieval Africa29 events · Stone cities, camel caravans, and the gold that crashed Cairo's economy: the empires Europe forgot to noticeView all →
Great Zimbabwe Rises on the Gold-Rich Plateau · Medieval Africa · SourcedStory