A 15-hectare site on a rocky plateau one kilometre south of the Limpopo, about 7 km downstream of the Shashe confluence.
It was the capital of the Zhizo people from about 900 (about 500 people in one estimate), famous for its clay figurines, and was drawn into the ivory trade with the coast; a K2-phase occupation is dated about 1057-1075. By 1 January 1200 it is a ruin within the K2 kingdom.
Who holds it
- Title
- Abandoned
- Since
- Not pinned
- Confidence
- low
Lord in 1200
None: abandoned.
How things stand that morning
Abandoned; a ruin.
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.
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: Excavated (Hanisch); AMS dates (Huffman and Woodborne 2021); recent study by Antonites.
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
- Antonites, on Schroda and the Zhizo and K2 phases of the middle Limpopo, Koedoe (2024)
- Huffman and Woodborne, New AMS dates for the Middle Iron Age in the Mapungubwe landscape, South African Journal of Science 117 (2021)
- Kingdom of Mapungubwe (Wikipedia)
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.