K2 and Mapungubwe

Abstract

Since 1933, four phases of archaeological investigation at K2 and Mapungubwe in the Limpopo River Valley have established that these sites represent a sequence of human settlement, subsistence farming and state development in this region between AD 1000 and AD 1300. The size, com? plexity and cultural content of the sites reflect the royal status ofthe inhabitants and the development of indigenous social structures and trade links via the east coast of Africa. About the middle of the lst millennium AD, an Early Iron Age community had settled on Mapungubwe and left evidence of their pottery there. During the 11th and 12th centuries AD, a royal African community ruled over this farming complex from their capital at K2 in a picturesque valley nearby. During the 12th and 13th centuries, Mapungubwe Hill became a royal African metropolis and the hub of social development, subsistence farming and trade in the area. The apparent decline of Mapungubwe towards the end ofthe 13 th century seems to be contempo? rary? with Period III at Great Zimbabwe. Various smaller sites in the neighbourhood, contemporary with K2 and Mapungubwe, are related subordinate settlements such as cattle outposts and agricultural villages. Several small settlement sites postdating Mapungubwe indicate that farming communities continued to inhabit the area between AD 1300 and AD 1800. Current research shows that the kingdoms of K2 and Mapungubwe contributed to the current indigenous knowledge systems of the local commu? nities in the region. *Received December 1999, revised October 2000