Heritage Cases

Set at the heart of the Shashe-Limpopo basin. Mapungubwe state and its influence straddles across four countries; Botswana, Mozambique, South Africa and Zimbabwe. A number of hypothesis have been put forward for the rise and decline of Mapungubwe state. The most cited hypothesis is the role of climate change in the middle Limpopo valley. For instance, the growth of Mapungubwe can be linked to significant climate related changes, whereby the Warm Medieval Epoch (AD 900-1250) would have bolstered agricultural pursuits and growing population density. According to the same model, the onset of cooler and drier conditions associated with the Little Ice Age (AD 1290-1300) seems to have steered the decline of Mapungubwe (ibid.). However, a number of studies (e.g. Nxumalo 2019) have shown that the climate variability hypothesis cannot be the sole determinant factor that may have contributed to the decline of Mapungubwe. Noteworthy, these hypothesis and speculations go far as suggesting that Mapungubwe’s decline may have been due to seismic activity. A body of geological evidence (Stuart and Zengeni 1987) shows that the Limpopo province is seismically active with a known epicentre sitting across the Limpopo Mobile belt. As such, Huffman 2007 suggests that seismic activity in the Shashe-Limpopo basin may have contributed to the abandonment of Mapungubwe landscapes. These assumptions associated with changing environmental conditions (e.g. rainfall patterns) and geological activity need to be considered very carefully in plight of what is known in the Limpopo valley. The proposed research will test the role of seismic activity in the rise in the decline of Mapungubwe State in the middle Limpopo valley, Southern Africa. In addition, existing geoarchaeological records (soil chemistry and micromorphological analysis) will be integrated to to generate a model for changing environmental conditions and cultural developments in the Mapungubwe landscape.