What is the history of Mapungubwe?

The first people in Mapungubwe were early Iron Age settlers. They lived there from about 1000 AD to 1300 AD, and around 1500 Iron Age subsistence farmers also settled there. Their existence is confirmed by the discovery by archaeologists of a few potsherds identified as Early Iron Age pottery.

Why is Mapungubwe historically important?

Mapungubwe is incredibly historically important as the community that lived here are considered to be the most complex society in southern Africa at the time and also the first class-based social system in southern Africa.

What does the name Mapungubwe mean?

Hill of Jackals
The Kingdom of Mapungubwe (or Maphungubgwe) (c. 1075–c. 1220) was a medieval state in South Africa located at the confluence of the Shashe and Limpopo rivers, south of Great Zimbabwe. The name is derived from either TjiKalanga and Tshivenda. The name might mean “Hill of Jackals”.

What was the main reason for the fall of Mapungubwe?

The site went into decline from the end of the 13th century CE, most likely due to an exhaustion of local resources, including agricultural land, and the movement of interregional trade to such sites as Great Zimbabwe further north. Mapungubwe was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2003 CE.

How was Mapungubwe discovered?

The site was ‘discovered’ on 31 December 1932, when a local informant, Mowena, led E.S.J. van Graan (farmer and prospector), his son and three others, to Greefswald farm on Mapungubwe Hill. On the hill they noticed stone walls and on closer inspection, they recovered gold and iron artifacts, pottery and glass beads.

What makes Mapungubwe special?

Mapungubwe National Park is renowned for its scenic landscape, with sandstone formations, woodlands, riverine forest and baobab trees.

What was Mapungubwe known for?

One thousand years ago, Mapungubwe appears to have been the centre of the largest known kingdom in the African sub-continent. The civilization thrived as a sophisticated trading center from around 1200 to 1300 AD, trading gold and ivory with China, India and Egypt.

Who did the Golden Rhino represent?

The golden rhinoceros of Mapungubwe symbolizes the trade and wealth that that city in South Africa enjoyed during the Middle Ages.

Where is the golden rhino of Mapungubwe?

northern South Africa
The golden rhinoceros was recovered in 1934 from a royal grave at the site of Mapungubwe in northern South Africa close to the border of Zimbabwe. Its creation in the 13th century is a reflection of the wealth of the state of Mapungubwe, southern Africa’s earliest known kingdom.

Who made the Golden Rhino?

Scientists soon confirmed that the delicate gold-foil creature, small enough to stand in the palm of your hand, was produced by an indigenous kingdom that had developed a sophisticated mining and trading culture by the 13th century, more than 400 years before Europeans arrived.

Does Mapungubwe have big 5?

Mapungubwe National Park is a bird-watcher’s paradise and is home to over 456 species of birds as well as the Big Five of the African bush.

Who was the leader of Mapungubwe?

The site was ‘discovered’ on 31 December 1932, when a local informant, Mowena, led E.S.J. van Graan (farmer and prospector), his son and three others, to Greefswald farm on Mapungubwe Hill.