The Production, Distribution and Consumption of Metals and Alloys at Great Zimbabwe

Abstract

The legacy of vandalism and almost a century of continuous focus on drystone wall masonry is that little is known about metal craft production and consumption activities at Great Zimbabwe. Within these limitations, this paper attempts to explore the metallurgy of Great Zimbabwe, guided by the framework of archival, chronological and fieldwork‐ and laboratory‐based studies. The paper contends that residents of various components of Great Zimbabwe worked and processed their own metal, pointing to homestead‐level production and consumption. Metal from local and regional sources sustained long‐distance trade with the Indian Ocean rim.

An archaeological study of the Zimbabwe Culture capital of Khami, southwestern Zimbabwe

“…This conclusion was reached based on a correlation of the terminal date for Great Zimbabwe and the basal date for Khami (Sheppard and Swart 1967;Robinson 1961b;Huffman and Vogel 1991) and the perceived similarities between the material cultures of the two sites. However, recent research has demonstrated that Great Zimbabwe did not collapse in the fifteenth century, as was previously thought (Collett 1992;Bandama et al 2016). Instead it continued to flourish well into the sixteenth century, at a time when Khami was also developing in south-western Zimbabwe (Collett 1992).…”

“…Studies of craft production have gained momentum over the years due to their importance in the broader study of material culture, economic organisation, socio-political organisation and exchange (Costin 2001;Hagstrum 2001;Bandama et al 2016). Costin (2005Costin ( : 1032 considers craft production as 'any transformational process involving skill, aesthetics and cultural meaning and consider the results of that crafting to be crafts'.…”

“…Following their investigation of the metal remains from Great Zimbabwe, Bandama et al (2016) have argued that production at the site was probably household-based, with each household manufacturing items for its own use. This was based on the distribution of metallurgical debris from the site, which showed that metal working was not concentrated in one area but in various places that correlated with household areas at the site-hence the argument for a household-based production system at the site .…”

“…Robinson (1985) has also shown that the two co-occur in the Umguza Valley in Zimbabwe collapsed at 1450 AD (Huffman 1991). However, current evidence suggests that this is no longer the position and Great Zimbabwe continued to flourish to the seventeenth century (Collett et al 1992;Bandama et al 2016;Chirikure et al 2016). Thus it is no longer tenable to try to create a causal relationship between the collapse of Great Zimbabwe and the rise of Khami.…”

“…Some scholars have argued that this production industry resulted in the growth of a class of people specialising in various modes of craft production. In particular, scholars have sought to understand the organisation of craft production in the prehistoric era and how it contributed to the development of prehistoric societies (Costin and Hagstrum 1995;Costin 2005;Bandama et al 2016). This chapter presents data related to the manufacturing and craft industry at Khami.…”