Excavations at Great Zimbabwe: Commoner Housing versus Elite Enclosures
Author(s): Thomas Huffman
Year: 2018
Summary
Salvage excavations in the 1970s at the famous capital of Great Zimbabwe, southern Africa, uncovered several residential complexes dating to Periods IVb (AD 1300-1450) and IVc (AD 1450-1550). Overall, granaries and middens surrounded closely-spaced houses of commoner families living between the Outer and Inner Perimeter Walls. These high-density concentrations stood in marked contrast to the open spaces typical of elite enclosures. One midden against the Outer Perimeter Wall yielded a copper coin minted in Kilwa in honour of al Hasan bin Sulaiman (AD 1330 and 1333). Within the compounds, most structures had undergone several renovation stages. In addition, separate kitchens and sleeping houses―together with split fireplaces―show a change in attitudes about male and female roles. Among other things, the excavations showed that Great Zimbabwe was a dynamic town rather than a vacant ceremonial centre.
Cite this Record
Excavations at Great Zimbabwe: Commoner Housing versus Elite Enclosures. Thomas Huffman. Presented at The 82nd Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, Washington, DC. 2018 ( tDAR id: 442737)
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Keywords
General
Ethnography/Ethnoarchaeology
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Household Archaeology
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Iron Age
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Social and Political Organization: States and Empires
Geographic Keywords
Africa: Southern Africa
Spatial Coverage
min long: 9.58; min lat: -35.461 ; max long: 57.041; max lat: 4.565 ;
Record Identifiers
Abstract Id(s): 20626