Abstract:
The history of past civilisations in southern Africa from ad700 to ad1450 has engendered unresolved debates on the social complexities and ultimate decline of these
powerful states. The purpose of this paper is to examine the history of the Mapungubwe
and Great Zimbabwe state systems in southern Africa through an environmental perspective by taking into consideration human responses to persistent droughts and dry
spells. The theories underpinning this study are derived from contemporary societal
responses to similar environmental hardships in the Bikita and Chivi districts of southern Zimbabwe. Using rainfall data, and interviews with chiefs, villagers, farmers and
experts, this study notes that the occurrence of droughts and dry-spell experiences
interfere with sociopolitical organisation. The concepts of sustainability, resilience and
transformation are used to explain what could have transpired in societies in southern
Africa in the second millennium ad in the face of persistent droughts and dry spells.
