The Great Zimbabwe is the largest stone complex in Africa before the modern era. It was constructed between the 11th and 15th centuries. It was inhabited by the Shona people until about 1450. The ruins that survive are about 4 hours from Zimbabwe's present day capital of Harare. The word Zimbabwe translates from the Bantu language of the Shona to "judicial center" or "ruler's court or house." Only few of these houses have survived the exposure to the elements over the centuries. Within these clay structures, excavations have revealed interior furnishings such as pot stands, elevated surfaces for sleeping and sitting, as well as hearths. 


           The stone construction of the Great Zimbabwe can be categorized into roughly three areas, the Hill Ruin, the Great Enclosure, and the Valley Ruins. The Hill ruin dates to approximately 1250 and incorporates a cave that remains a sacred site for the Shona peoples. The cave once accommodated the residence of the ruler and his immediate family. The Hill Ruin also held a structure surrounded by 30 foot high walls and flanked by cylindrical towers and monoliths carved with elaborate geometric patterns. 


                The Great Enclosure was completed in approximately 1450, and it too is a walled structure punctuated with turrets and monoliths, emulating the form of the earlier Hill Ruin. The massive outer wall is 32 feet high in some places. Inside the Great Enclosure, a smaller wall parallels the exterior wall creating a tight passageway leading to large towers. Because the Great Enclosure shares many structural similarities with the Hill Ruin, one interpretation suggests that the Great Enclosure was built to accommodate a surplus population and its religious and administrative activities. Another theory posits that the Great Enclosure may have functioned as a site for religious rituals. The third section of Great Zimbabwe, the Valley Ruins, include a number of structures that offer evidence that the site served as a hub for commercial exchange and long distance trades. Archaeologists have found porcelain fragments originating from China, beads crafted in southeast Asia, and copper ingots from trading centers along the Zambezi River and from Central African Kingdoms.  


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