World Heritage Sites of South Africa: Mapungubwe Cultural Landscape

Where the Shashe and Limpopo rivers meet, bringing three countries together - South Africa, Zimbabwe and Botswana - are the remains of an Iron Age kingdom. In 1932, a hunting party found evidence of this past civilization - pottery, iron tools, fragments of jewellery - on Mapungubwe Hill. The discovery was brought to the attention of the University of Pretoria, and an archaeological exploration began, which revealed the existence of a highly developed kingdom some 700 to 1000 years ago. 

Trade beads originating from India, Egypt and the Arab world, as well as evidence of contact with Asia, have turned the theory that Europeans were first to bring international trade to southern Africa on its head. It is also believed the inhabitants of the settlement kept cattle, sheep and goats and cultivated millet and sorghum. A hierarchy is reflected in the layout of the settlement, with royalty housed on Mapungubwe Hill and their subjects below. A small golden rhinoceros, made of wood and covered in gold foil, is the most famous artifact uncovered and has become a symbol of the site; it is housed at the Mapungubwe Museum at Pretoria University. Today the hill, along with another excavation site known as K2, form part of the Mapungubwe National Park. 

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