Mike Main - Palaces of Stone: Uncovering Ancient Southern African Kingdoms

Table of Contents

Dedicated to

The late Alec Campbell, the inspiration for this book; Catrien van Waarden, who helped it toward the finishing line; Kerstin Jackson-Main, who was there every step of the way; and Maddy Semple, who was part of the journey.

Henry Mugabe (senior stonemason), Munyaradzi Mapfua, Tinashe Manyeo and Daniel Mugabe, the masterful stonemasons who helped reconstruct Khami, Naletale and other walled sites in their care.

The descendants of the Zimbabwe Culture.

Published by Struik Travel & Heritage (an imprint of Penguin Random House South Africa (Pty) Ltd)

Reg. No. 1953/000441/07

The Estuaries No. 4, Oxbow Crescent, Century Avenue, Century City, 7441

PO Box 1144, Cape Town, 8000

South Africa

www.penguinrandomhouse.co.za

First published in 2021

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Copyright in text, 2021: Mike Main, Thomas Huffman

Copyright in photographs, 2021: As listed on page 165

Copyright in illustrations, 2021: As listed on page 165

Copyright in maps, 2021: Penguin Random House South Africa (Pty) Ltd, Liezel Bohdanowicz

Copyright in published edition, 2021: Penguin Random House South Africa (Pty) Ltd

Publisher: Pippa Parker

Managing editor: Roelien Theron

Designer: Gillian Black

Cover designer: Neil Bester

Cartographer: Liezel Bohdanowicz

Proofreader: Alfred LeMaitre

Indexer: Sanet le Roux

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the copyright owner(s).

ISBN 978 1 77584 614 7 (Print)

ISBN 978 177584 615 4 (ePub)

Permission to reproduce or adapt site plans and maps has been obtained from the relevant copyright holders, as listed on page 165.

Front cover:Great Enclosure, Great Zimbabwe (Lynn Yeh/Shutterstock.com ); Stone palace insets: Khami, Naletale, Upper Majande, Great Zimbabwe; Half-title page:Naletale (Ann Stephenson-Moller); Back cover:Naletale (top), Gold rhino, Mapungubwe (bottom left), Soapstone bird, Great Zimbabwe

ACROSS THE FACE OFsouthern Africa are more than 566 remarkable stone palaces, once the abode of kings, paramount chiefs, senior chiefs or petty chiefs. Some are small, others rambling, but many are absolutely astonishing: all are the legacy of kingdoms past, and every one, no matter its size, speaks loudly of the authority of ruling elite whose reach embraced a region the size of France. Ranging in age and spanning more than six hundred years, the majority are unknown to the general public, yet they exhibit the most intricate and beautiful stonework at the highest levels of craftsmanship for building in stone without mortar.

The purpose of this book is to tell and illustrate the story of some of the most amazing African kingdoms that held sway across southern Africa some until well into the nineteenth century and about which, apart from the iconic ruins known as Great Zimbabwe, the general public knows hardly anything.

It is an extraordinary tale of impressive feats of architecture, long-distance travel, global trade and complex political and administrative forms of organisation. But, above all, it offers another perspective on what we once assumed were the vast empty spaces of Africa past, revealing instead a hinterland that hummed with activity mining, commerce, transportation, farming and hunting. But this was also a place of conflict: here rebellions were a regular feature, land was captured by force, boundaries were violated and fiercely defended, and cattle herds were constantly at risk of being stolen.

The story begins with the appearance of Bantu-speaking people, who arrived in this part of Africa from the north, spreading southward, over generations, into the west, east and down through the centre of the continent, bringing with them sophisticated technologies that outcompeted those of the largely Stone Age indigenous people, the San (Bushmen) and the cattle-owning Khoe (collectively referred to as the Khoesan), whom they encountered along the way.