Abstract:
Based largely on architectural style, the Zimbabwe Culture has
conventionally been divided into three phases named after the major
sites of Mapungubwe, Great Zimbabwe and Khami. Within and
between the sites of this important southern African cultural phenomenon,
the P, PQ, Q, and R stylistic classification originally defined by
Anthony Whitty in the 1950s has continued to provide the basic
descriptive and analytical framework. This has included continued
acceptance and assumptions of the chronological as well as sociopolitical
significance and implications associated with these wall
styles as originally defined. Ongoing research in the Hwange district,
has led to the documentation and assessment of dry stone-walled
sites that architecturally and in several other respects, do not fit
the traditional conventional frameworks. This is challenging the
currently accepted definitions and characterisation of this important
culture and its associated architecture. This paper discusses the
variations in the architectural characteristics of the Hwange district
dry stone-walled sites in the context of existing national and regional
studies of this architectural heritage. Against this background, we
question the continued use and application of outdated and uncritical
characterisations of the Zimbabwe Culture architecture as currently
presented in the southern African archaeological discourse.
