Mapungubwe was an early kingdom in southern Africa, located in the present-day Limpopo province of South Africa, near that country’s borders with Zimbabwe and Botswana. Mapungubwe was the most important kingdom in southern Africa until it was abandoned in the 14th century. The name Mapungubwe means “hill of the jackal.” The residents of Mapungubwe were, like the people of Thulamela, the ancestors of the Shona people of southern Africa. The first people in Mapungubwe were early Iron Age settlers.
The Kingdom of Mapungubwe – its capital perched atop the golden ridges of Mapungubwe Hill – flourished just under a thousand years ago. Today, its remnants lie scattered across the landscape, offering tantalising clues into the lives of its occupants during a time of power and prestige. But adjacent to Mapungubwe is the sister site of Bambadyanalo, which was settled even earlier. It seems that the centre of the state shifted from Bambandyanalo to Mapungubwe hill in about 1045 AD, when the town most probably became overcrowded.
Like the societies of Thulamela and Great Zimbabwe, Mapungubwe was structured along social classes. This may be seen from the location of people’s houses separating leaders and commoners. The elite lived at the top of Mapungubwe and their followers stayed at the bottom of the hill and in the surrounding area. A garbage site close to K2, where commoners lived, indicates that rich and poor ate very different foods.
Though Mapungubwe, and the Mapungubwe Hill in particular, had long held a vital cultural significance to the area’s local people, its archaeological importance came to light in the 1930s when an excavation uncovered a treasure trove of artefacts. Over time, the findings revealed the rise and fall of a complex Iron Age society (some 5,000 people at the civilisation’s height) that occupied the region from around circa AD 900-1300. It soon became clear that the Kingdom of Mapungubwe had been a hub of trade and cultural exchange, with links to the Middle East, India and China via East African ports.
Mapungubwe was short-lived as a capital, thriving only from 1290 to 1300. Its decline was linked to radical climatic changes that saw the area become colder and drier. At the time of Mapungubwe’s decline, Great Zimbabwe began to grow in importance. The kingdom of Mapungubwe had a fully functioning society which was ruled by a king. Agriculture and cattle rearing were indicators of their wealth, and Mapungubwe would have been an important trading point for goods from all over the world in its heyday.
Funeral traditions were also different. The rich had a graveyard at the top of the hill with a beautiful view of the region. 3 of the people found in this cemetery were buried upright, in a sitting position, indicating they were royalty. They were also buried with gold and copper ornaments and glass beads, showing the people of Mapungubwe were skilled in working with gold.
The chief or king of Mapungubwe was likely the wealthiest individual in the society, that is he owned more cattle and precious materials acquired via trade than anyone else. There was also some sort of religious association between the king and rainmaking, a vital necessity for agriculture in such a dry landscape. The king and his court dwelt in a stone enclosure composed of stone walls and housing built on the highest level of the community’s territory, a natural sandstone hill which is some 30 metres (98 ft) high and 100 metres (328 ft) in length.
Occupation on the hill dates from the 11th century CE. That royal wives lived separately from the king is indicated by a number of separate dwellings where grindstones have been discovered. The whole complex was originally surrounded by a wooden palisade as indicated by postholes made in the rock. In 2003 Mapungubwe was declared a UNESCO World Heritage site. In 2004 the South African government made the Mapungubwe area a national park.
