Zimbabwe (architecture)

Extensive stone architectural ruins 27 km/17 mi southeast of Victoria in Mashonaland, Zimbabwe. The site was occupied from the 3rd century AD, but the massive stone structures date from the 10th–15th centuries AD. They were probably the work of the Shona people, who established their rule in about AD 1000 and mined minerals for trading.

The new state of Zimbabwe took its name from these ruins, and the national emblem is a bird derived from soapstone sculptures of fish eagles found there. The site comprises hill ruins with the earliest dwellings (10th century AD), a series of stone-walled enclosures on a granite outcrop known as the Acropolis, a massive elliptical building, or Great Enclosure, with 10-m/30-ft stone walls, a ritual or political site known as the Temple, and a conical tower built in a later phase.

Porcelain of the Ming period and golden ornaments have been found in the ruins. Gold, copper, tin, and iron were all mined by the Shona.