Ziwa is an archaeological site in
Nyanga District,
Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...
, containing the remains of a vast late Iron Age agricultural settlement dated to the 15th century. Ziwa was declared a National Monument in 1946 and is currently under consideration for
World Heritage
A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...
listing. The site contains a large variety of stonework structures including stone terraces running along contours of hills and steep landscapes. Archaeological investigations have also uncovered important aspects of pottery and rock art.
Before the declaration of the site as a National Monument, Ziwa had been part of the commercial farms area and was thus under private ownership. A great deal of damage or degradation of antiquities may have been wrought during this period as the farmer used the property as a cattle ranch. Currently a site
museum
A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical
History (derived ) is the systematic study and th ...
(with tourist facilities such as camping, guided tours, walking trails, bird viewing, etc.) has been established to represent the Ziwa heritage and other archaeological sites in the Nyanga district.
Despite the abandonment of the site by its inhabitants in the 18th Century, Ziwa continued to be of significance to the later communities that settled in its neighbourhood.
[http://www.international.icomos.org/victoriafalls2003/papers/B2%20-%201%20-%20Missias.pdf#search=%22ziwa%20zimbabwe%22 ]
Description
Ziwa bears evidence of human occupation for all the major archaeological periods identified in Zimbabwe's archaeological sequence. That is from
hunter-gatherer periods of the
Stone Age to historical times. The {{convert, 3337, ha of land comprise: Stone Age deposits, rock art sites, early farming communities settlements, a landscape of later farming communities marked by terraces and field systems, hill forts,
pit structures
Pit or PIT may refer to:
Structure
* Ball pit, a recreation structure
* Casino pit, the part of a casino which holds gaming tables
* Trapping pit, pits used for hunting
* Pit (motor racing), an area of a racetrack where pit stops are conducte ...
and stone enclosures, iron
smelting
Smelting is a process of applying heat to ore, to extract a base metal. It is a form of extractive metallurgy. It is used to extract many metals from their ores, including silver, iron, copper, and other base metals. Smelting uses heat and a ...
and forging furnaces and numerous remains of daub-plastered housing structures.
Image gallery
Image:Ziwa enclosure model.JPG, Part of Ziwa ruins scale model, taken in visitors centre
Image:Ziwa ruins pitentrance.JPG, Pit entrance
Image:Ziwa ruins wall.JPG, Enclosure double wall
See also
*
History of Zimbabwe
Until roughly 2,000 years ago, what would become Zimbabwe was populated by ancestors of the San people. Bantu inhabitants of the region arrived and developed ceramic production in the area. A series of trading empires emerged, including the Ki ...
*
Nyanga, Zimbabwe
*
Great Zimbabwe
Great Zimbabwe is a medieval city in the south-eastern hills of Zimbabwe near Lake Mutirikwi and the town of Masvingo. It is thought to have been the capital of a great kingdom during the country's Late Iron Age about which little is known. ...
*
Dhlo-Dhlo
*
Khami
Khami (also written as ''Khame'', ''Kame'' or ''Kami'') is a ruined city located 22 kilometres west of Bulawayo, in Zimbabwe. It was once the capital of the Kingdom of Butwa of the Torwa dynasty. It is now a national monument, and became a UN ...
Notes and references
External links
*Ziwa entry on th
UNESCO World Heritage site
Archaeological sites in Zimbabwe
Buildings and structures in Manicaland Province
Former populated places in Zimbabwe
History of Zimbabwe
Nyanga District
Ruins in Zimbabwe
Tourist attractions in Manicaland Province
Archaeological sites of Eastern Africa