The largest known Leopard's Kopje site: a hill just over 90 m high with massive stone terraces up to two and a half metres high on its slopes and an elite on the summit and terraces in clay-floored houses, with kraals on the terraces and flats below.
Occupied about 1055-1400; on 1 January 1200 its pottery is moving from K2 to Transitional K2 style. Over a thousand glass beads came from one terrace trench.
Who holds it
- Title
- Seat of the lord of Mapela (see Lord of Mapela)
- Since
- Not pinned
- Confidence
- low
Lord in 1200
The lord of Mapela, name not known; his allegiance to the K2 ruler is not pinned.
How things stand that morning
An active hill town of the K2 culture with an elite set apart on stone terraces.
Charter
None: a settlement under a chief, without written privileges.
Fairs and markets
No fixed markets are known; exchange at the chief's court and with visiting traders.
Walls and castle
Stone terrace walls (revetments) from the eleventh century; no defensive wall known.
Trade and crafts
Cattle; glass beads imported; probably gold from the Gwanda-West Nicholson belt 20 km away.
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: Bayesian radiocarbon model and excavation (Chirikure et al. 2014); location from the published description.
Primary sources for K2 kingdom (Mapungubwe)
Chronicles, registers, sagas and inscriptions written in or near 1200 that cover this entry. Each has its own page with editions, translations and where to read it.
- Mapungubwe, the Zimbabwe plateau, Toutswe and the Comoros: the archaeological record (no text; radiocarbon-dated sites). There is no written word from the interior south of the Zambezi or from the Comoros in 1200; all that is known is from excavation. Read online
Sources and studies
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.