Great Zimbabwe
When Europeans found a great stone city in southern Africa, they invented stories about who built it. The truth had been there all along.
What was reported
Great Zimbabwe is a city of massive stone walls, towers and enclosures, built without mortar between the 11th and 15th centuries. At its height it was the capital of a trading kingdom linked to the Indian Ocean coast, and it gave the modern country of Zimbabwe its name.
When European colonists arrived in the late 19th century, many refused to believe Africans had built it. They claimed it was the work of Phoenicians, Arabs or the Queen of Sheba.
Explanations offered
Archaeologists, starting with David Randall-MacIver in 1905 and Gertrude Caton-Thompson in 1929, showed that Great Zimbabwe was built by the ancestors of the Shona people. The colonial government of Rhodesia continued to promote other theories for political reasons. The 'mystery' was never really a mystery.
- When
- Built from the 11th to the 15th century
- Where
- Masvingo Province, Zimbabwe
- Witnesses
- Archaeologists and visitors
- Status
- Explained
Famous cases are real, widely reported events. Each file sets out what witnesses said and the explanations that have been offered, without taking a side.