Editing Great Zimbabwe (section)

==History and description==
{{Further|Kingdom of Zimbabwe}}[[Image:Great-Zimbabwe.jpg|right|thumb|Overview of Great Zimbabwe. The large walled construction is the Great [[Enclosure (archaeology)|Enclosure]]. Some remains of the valley complex can be seen in front of it.]]
[[File:140 of 'The Ruined Cities of Mashonaland- being a record of excavation and exploration in 1891 ... With a chapter on the orientation and mensuration of the temples by R. M. W. Swan. (With plates.)' (11217936264).jpg|thumb|Plan of the complex]]

===Settlement===
The Great Zimbabwe area was previously settled by the [[San people|San]] dating back 100,000 years,{{Efn|Some scholars contest that cultures and identities can't be considered fixed or invariable, especially over such a long time period.<ref>{{cite journal |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/antiquity/article/abs/primordialism-and-the-pleistocene-san-of-southern-africa/45D6E61597C34A496AB5A0B6FA1C7632 |last1=Pargeter |first1=Justin |last2=Mackay |first2=Alex |last3=Mitchell |first3=Peter |last4=Shea |first4=John |last5=Stewart |first5=Brian |title=Primordialism and the 'Pleistocene San' of southern Africa |year=2016 |journal=Antiquity |volume=90 |issue=352}}</ref>}} and, starting around 150 BC, by [[Bantu peoples|Bantu-speaking peoples]] who formed agricultural [[chiefdom]]s starting in the 4th century AD.<ref name=":2"/>{{Rp|pages=11–12}} Between the 4th and the 7th centuries, communities of the [[Gokomere]] or [[Ziwa]] cultures farmed the valley, and mined and worked iron, but built no stone structures.<ref name="antiquity" /><ref>Pikirayi (2001) p129</ref> These are the earliest [[Iron Age]] settlements in the area identified from archaeological diggings, and the later [[Gumanye people]] are considered the ancestors of the [[Karanga people|Karanga]] (south-central [[Shona people|Shona]]),{{Efn|The term ''Karanga'' began as an exonym of the Shona used by outsiders, however in the modern day it refers to a dialect of Shona in south-central Zimbabwe.<ref>{{cite book |title=Becoming Zimbabwe : a history from the pre-colonial period to 2008 |year=2009 |url=https://archive.org/details/becomingzimbabwe0000unse |last1=Raftopoulos |first1=Brian |last2=Mlambo |first2=Alois|isbn=978-1-77922-083-7 }}</ref>{{rp|page=4}}}} who would construct Great Zimbabwe.<ref>Summers (1970) p163</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Chirikure |first1=Shadreck |last2=Manyanga |first2=Munyaradzi |last3=Pikirayi |first3=Innocent |last4=Pollard |first4=Mark |date=2013-12-01 |title=New Pathways of Sociopolitical Complexity in Southern Africa |url=https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10437-013-9142-3 |journal=African Archaeological Review |language=en |volume=30 |issue=4 |pages=339–366 |doi=10.1007/s10437-013-9142-3 |issn=1572-9842|hdl=2263/41780 |hdl-access=free }}</ref>

===Construction and growth===
Construction of the stone buildings started in the 11th century and continued for over 300 years.<ref name=MMA>{{cite web|url=http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/zimb/hd_zimb.htm|title=Great Zimbabwe (11th–15th century) – Thematic Essay|date=October 2001 |publisher=The Metropolitan Museum of Art|access-date=12 January 2009}}</ref> The ruins at Great Zimbabwe are some of the oldest and largest structures located in Southern Africa. Its most formidable edifice, commonly referred to as the Great Enclosure, has walls as high as {{convert|36|ft|m|abbr=on|order=flip}} extending approximately {{convert|820|ft|m|abbr=on|order=flip}}. Its growth has been linked to the decline of Mapungubwe from around 1300, or the greater availability of gold in the hinterland of Great Zimbabwe.<ref name="Zambezia">{{cite journal|title=Trade and economies in southern Africa: the archaeological evidence|author=Gilbert Pwiti|journal=Zambezia|volume=18|pages=119–129|year=1991|url=http://archive.lib.msu.edu/DMC/African%20Journals/pdfs/Journal%20of%20the%20University%20of%20Zimbabwe/vol18n2/juz018002004.pdf}}</ref>
[[File:Great-zim-aerial-looking-West.JPG|thumb|Aerial view of the Great Enclosure and Valley Complex, looking west]]

Traditional estimates are that Great Zimbabwe had as many as 18,000 inhabitants at its peak.<ref name="contested">{{cite book|chapter=Contested monuments: the politics of archaeology in southern Africa|last=Kuklick|first=Henrika|pages=135–170|editor=George W. Stocking|title=Colonial situations: essays on the contextualization of ethnographic knowledge|publisher=Univ of Wisconsin Press|year=1991|isbn=978-0-299-13124-1}}</ref> However, a more recent survey concluded that the population likely never exceeded 10,000.<ref>{{cite journal|author=Chirikure, S.|display-authors=etal|year=2017|title=What was the population of Great Zimbabwe (CE1000 – 1800)|journal=PLOS ONE|volume=12|issue=6|page=e0178335|doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0178335|pmid=28614397|pmc=5470674|bibcode=2017PLoSO..1278335C|doi-access=free}}</ref> The ruins that survive are built entirely of stone; they span {{convert|1800|acre|ha|abbr=on|order=flip}}. Great Zimbabwe covered a similar area to [[medieval London]]; while the density of buildings within the stone enclosures was high, in areas outside them it was much lower.<ref>{{Citation |last=Pikirayi |first=Innocent |title=Great Zimbabwe, 1100–1600 AD, Rise, Development, and Demise of |date=2020 |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Global Archaeology |pages=4696–4709 |editor-last=Smith |editor-first=Claire |url=https://link.springer.com/referenceworkentry/10.1007/978-3-030-30018-0_2666 |access-date=2024-12-23 |place=Cham |publisher=Springer International Publishing |language=en |doi=10.1007/978-3-030-30018-0_2666 |isbn=978-3-030-30018-0}}</ref> The institutionalisation of Great Zimbabwe's politico-religious ideology served to legitimise the position of the king ([[Mambo (title)|''mambo'']]), with a link between leaders, their ancestors, and [[Mwari|God]].<ref name=":62">{{Cite journal |last1=Kim |first1=Nam C. |last2=Kusimba |first2=Chapurukha M. |last3=Keeley |first3=Lawrence H. |date=2015 |title=Coercion and Warfare in the Rise of State Societies in Southern Zambezia |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/43916844 |journal=The African Archaeological Review |volume=32 |issue=1 |pages=1–34 |doi=10.1007/s10437-015-9183-x |issn=0263-0338 |jstor=43916844}}</ref><ref name=":72">{{Cite journal |last=Huffman |first=Thomas N. |date=2014-04-01 |title=Ritual Space in the Zimbabwe Culture |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1179/1944289013Z.0000000008 |journal=Journal of Archaeological, Ethnographic and Experimental Studies |volume=6 |issue=1 |pages=4–39 |doi=10.1179/1944289013z.0000000008 |issn=1944-2890}}</ref> [[Ken Mufuka]] writes that the shrine in the Hill Complex was the home of [[spirit medium]]s (''[[svikiro]]'') who were tasked with acting as the conscience of the state, and preserving the traditions of the founders, reported to be [[Chigwagu Rusvingo]] (the first ''mambo''), [[Chaminuka]], [[Chimurenga]], [[Tovera]], and [[Soro-rezhou]] among others.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |year=2005 |title=Great Zimbabwe: Origins and Rise |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of African History |publisher=Routledge |url=https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/mono/10.4324/9780203483862/encyclopedia-african-history-3-volume-set-kevin-shillington |last=Mufuka |first=Kenneth|editor-first1=Kevin |editor-last1=Shillington |doi=10.4324/9780203483862 |isbn=978-1-135-45670-2 }}</ref>

The majority of the population lived in houses made out of mud on wooden frame structures,<ref name=":6">{{Cite journal |last1=Kim |first1=Nam C. |last2=Kusimba |first2=Chapurukha M. |last3=Keeley |first3=Lawrence H. |date=2015 |title=Coercion and Warfare in the Rise of State Societies in Southern Zambezia |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/43916844 |journal=The African Archaeological Review |volume=32 |issue=1 |pages=1–34 |doi=10.1007/s10437-015-9183-x |jstor=43916844 |issn=0263-0338}}</ref> however the number of these can only be estimated. It is equally assumed that the stone structures were royal or official buildings, and elite dwellings. No burials have been found at the site to give another basis for estimating population.<ref>{{cite journal|author=Chirikure, S.|display-authors=etal|year=2017|title=What was the population of Great Zimbabwe (CE1000 – 1800)|journal=PLOS ONE|volume=12|issue=6|page=e0178335|doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0178335|pmid=28614397|pmc=5470674|bibcode=2017PLoSO..1278335C|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{Citation |last=Pikirayi |first=Innocent |title=Great Zimbabwe, 1100–1600 AD, Rise, Development, and Demise of |date=2020 |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Global Archaeology |pages=4696–4709 |editor-last=Smith |editor-first=Claire |url=https://link.springer.com/referenceworkentry/10.1007/978-3-030-30018-0_2666 |access-date=2024-12-23 |place=Cham |publisher=Springer International Publishing |language=en |doi=10.1007/978-3-030-30018-0_2666 |isbn=978-3-030-30018-0}}</ref>

===Features of the ruins===
In 1531, Vicente Pegado, Captain of the Portuguese Garrison of [[Sofala]], described Zimbabwe thus:<ref name="Newitt 2002 39" />
{{blockquote|Among the gold mines of the inland plains between the [[Limpopo River|Limpopo]] and [[Zambezi]] rivers there is a fortress built of stones of marvelous size, and there appears to be no mortar joining them&nbsp;... This edifice is almost surrounded by hills, upon which are others resembling it in the fashioning of stone and the absence of mortar, and one of them is a tower more than 12 [[fathom]]s [22 m] high. The natives of the country call these edifices Symbaoe, which according to their language signifies court. | Vicente Pegado}}
[[File:Eastern-enclosure-great-zimbabwe.jpg|thumb|right|View west from the Eastern Enclosure of the Hill Complex, showing the [[granite]] boulder that resembles the [[Zimbabwe Bird]] and the balcony.]]
The ruins form three distinct architectural groups. They are known as the Hill Complex, the Valley Complex and the Great Enclosure. The Hill Complex is the oldest, and was occupied from the 11th to 13th centuries. The Great Enclosure was occupied from the 13th to 15th centuries, and the Valley Complex from the 14th to 16th centuries.<ref name="antiquity"/> Notable features of the Hill Complex include the Eastern Enclosure, in which it is thought the [[Zimbabwe Bird]]s stood, a high balcony enclosure overlooking the Eastern Enclosure, and a huge boulder in a shape similar to that of the Zimbabwe Bird.<ref>Garlake (1973) 27</ref> The Great Enclosure is composed of an inner wall, encircling a series of structures and a younger outer wall. The Conical Tower, {{convert|18|ft|m|abbr=on|order=flip}} in diameter and {{convert|30|ft|m|abbr=on|order=flip|0}} high, was constructed between the two walls.<ref>Garlake (1973) 29</ref> The Valley Complex is divided into the Upper and Lower Valley Ruins, with different periods of occupation.<ref name="antiquity"/>
[[File:Great-zim-aerial-looking-SE.JPG|thumb|Aerial view looking southeast, Hill Complex in foreground]]
[[File:ASC Leiden - Rietveld Collection - East Africa 1975 - 05 - 037 - Detail of a Great Zimbabwe wall with lichen - Masvingo, Zimbabwe.jpg|thumb|Detail of the wall with lichen, 1975.]]
There are different archaeological interpretations of these groupings. It has been suggested that the complexes represent the work of successive kings: some of the new rulers founded a new residence.<ref name="current">{{cite journal |last1=Beach |first1=David |author-link=David Beach (historian) |year=1998 |title=Cognitive Archaeology and Imaginary History at Great Zimbabwe |journal=Current Anthropology |volume=39 |pages=47–72 |doi=10.1086/204698 |s2cid=143970768}}</ref> The focus of power moved from the Hill Complex in the 12th century, to the Great Enclosure, the Upper Valley and finally the Lower Valley in the early 16th century.<ref name="antiquity">{{cite journal|title=Inside and outside the dry stone walls: revisiting the material culture of Great Zimbabwe|author=Shadreck Chirikure|author2=Innocent Pikirayi|journal=Antiquity|volume=82|issue=318|pages=976–993|year=2008|doi=10.1017/S0003598X00097726|doi-access=free}}</ref> The alternative "structuralist" interpretation holds that the different complexes had different functions: the Hill Complex as an area for [[ritual]]s, perhaps related to rain making, the Valley complex was for the citizens, and the Great Enclosure was used by the king. Structures that were more elaborate were probably built for the kings, although it has been argued that the dating of finds in the complexes does not support this interpretation.<ref>{{cite journal|title=The chronology of the Valley Enclosures: implications for the interpretation of Great Zimbabwe|journal=African Archaeological Review|volume=10|year=1992|pages=139–161|first=D. P.|last=Collett |author2=A. E. Vines |author3=E. G. Hughes|doi=10.1007/BF01117699|s2cid=162352596}}</ref>

[[Dhaka pits]] were [[Depression (geology)|closed depressions]] utilized by inhabitants of Great Zimbabwe as sources of water management in the form of [[reservoirs]], [[well]]s and springs. Dhaka pits may have been in use since the mid-2nd millennium CE and the system could hold more than 18,000 m<sup>3</sup> of water storage.<ref>{{cite journal| last=Innocent | first=Pikirayi | author2=Federica Sulas| author3= Bongumenzi Nxumalo | author4=Munyaradzi Elton Sagiya|author5=David Stott |author6=Søren M. Kristiansen |author7=Shadreck Chirikure|author8=Tendai Musindo | name-list-style=amp | title=Climate-smart harvesting and storing of water: The legacy of dhaka pits at Great Zimbabwe | year=2022| journal=Anthropocene |volume=40|doi=10.1016/j.ancene.2022.100357| bibcode=2022Anthr..4000357P |s2cid=254533491| hdl=2263/90394 | hdl-access=free }}</ref>

===Notable artefacts===
<!---"ARTEFACT" IS ***THE CORRECT SPELLING***. PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE DO NOT CHANGE IT TO THE AMERICAN "ARTIFACT". THANK YOU.--->
[[Image:Zim-bird.jpg|thumb|right|Copy of Zimbabwe Bird soapstone sculpture]]
The most important artefacts recovered from the Monument are the eight [[Zimbabwe Bird]]s. These were carved from a micaceous [[schist]] ([[soapstone]]) on the tops of [[monolith]]s the height of a person.<ref name="Garlake 2002 158">Garlake (2002) 158</ref> Slots in a platform in the Eastern Enclosure of the Hill Complex appear designed to hold the monoliths with the Zimbabwe birds, but as they were not found in situ, the original location of each monolith and bird within the enclosure cannot be determined .<ref>Garlake (1973) 119</ref> Other artefacts include soapstone figurines (one of which is in the [[British Museum]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=596305&partId=1&place=16737&plaA=16737-3-1&pag|title=figure|website=British Museum}}</ref>), pottery, iron gongs, elaborately worked [[ivory]], iron and copper wire, iron hoes, bronze spearheads, copper ingots and crucibles, and gold beads, bracelets, pendants and sheaths.<ref>Garlake (2002) 159–162</ref><ref>Summers (1970) p166</ref> Glass beads and porcelain from China and Persia<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/364 | title=Great Zimbabwe National Monument}}</ref> among other foreign artefacts were also found, attesting the international trade linkages of the Kingdom. In the extensive stone ruins of the great city, which still remain today, include eight, monolithic birds carved in soapstone. It is thought that they represent the [[Bateleur|bateleur eagle]] – a good omen, protective spirit and messenger of the gods in Shona culture.<ref name="Nelson 2019 10">{{Cite book|title=Historium|last=Nelson|first=Jo|publisher=Big Picture Press|year=2019|pages=10}}</ref>

===Trade===
<!---"ARTEFACT" IS ***THE CORRECT SPELLING***. PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE DO NOT CHANGE IT TO THE AMERICAN "ARTIFACT". THANK YOU.--->
[[File:Zimbabwe states and trade map.png|thumb|Map of trade centres and routes in precolonial Zimbabwe.]]
Great Zimbabwe became a centre for trading, having replaced [[Mapungubwe]] around 1300.<ref name=":5">{{Cite book |last1=Chirikure |first1=Shadreck |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3pa7CgAAQBAJ&dq=kingdom+of+mapungubwe&pg=PT6 |title=Mapungubwe Reconsidered: A Living Legacy: Exploring Beyond the Rise and Decline of the Mapungubwe State |last2=Delius |first2=Peter |last3=Esterhuysen |first3=Amanda |last4=Hall |first4=Simon |last5=Lekgoathi |first5=Sekibakiba |last6=Maulaudzi |first6=Maanda |last7=Neluvhalani |first7=Vele |last8=Ntsoane |first8=Otsile |last9=Pearce |first9=David |date=2015-10-01 |publisher=Real African Publishers Pty Ltd. |isbn=978-1-920655-06-8 |language=en}}</ref> Regional networks were expansive, and salt, cattle, grain, and copper were traded as far north as the [[Kundelungu National Park|Kundelungu Plateau]] in present-day [[DR Congo]]. A significant portion of Great Zimbabwe's wealth came from the domination of trade routes from the goldfields of the Zimbabwean Plateau to the [[Swahili coast]].<ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last=Mlambo |first=A. S. |url=https://archive.org/details/historyofzimbabw0000mlam/mode/2up?view=theater |title=A history of Zimbabwe |date=2014 |publisher=New York, NY : Cambridge University Press |others=Internet Archive |isbn=978-1-107-02170-9}}</ref>{{Rp|page=17}} Through [[Swahili city-states]] such as [[Sofala]], they exported gold and [[ivory trade|ivory]] into the [[Indian Ocean trade]].<ref name=":4">{{Cite journal |last1=Delius |first1=Peter |last2=Chewins |first2=Linell |last3=Forssman |first3=Tim |date=2024 |title=Turning South African History Upside Down: Ivory and Gold Production, the Indian Ocean Trading System and the Shaping of Southern African Society, 600–1900 AD |journal=Journal of Southern African Studies |volume=50 |issue=3 |pages=499–520 |doi=10.1080/03057070.2024.2436329 |issn=0305-7070 |doi-access=free|bibcode=2024JSAfS..50..499D }}</ref> That international commerce was in addition to the local agricultural trade, in which cattle were especially important.<ref name="Zambezia"/> The large cattle herd that supplied the city moved seasonally and was managed by the court.<ref name="Garlake 2002 158"/> Chinese pottery shards, coins from Arabia, glass beads and other non-local items have been excavated at Zimbabwe. Despite these strong international trade links, there is no evidence to suggest exchange of architectural concepts between Great Zimbabwe and centres such as Kilwa.<ref>Garlake (2002) 185</ref>

===Decline===
It is unknown what caused Great Zimbabwe's demise and its eventual abandonment.{{Efn|A major factor involves the actions of European [[antiquarian]]s and prospectors during the colonial period in the looting of the site, destroying its [[stratigraphy]].}} It is unclear to what extent [[Climate variability and change|climate change]] played a role, however Great Zimbabwe's location in a favourable rainfall zone makes this unlikely to have been a primary cause. Great Zimbabwe's dominance over the region depended on its continual extension and projection of influence, as its growing population needed more farming land and traders more gold.<ref name=":12">{{Citation |last=Pikirayi |first=Innocent |title=Great Zimbabwe, 1100–1600 AD, Rise, Development, and Demise of |date=2020 |pages=4696–4709 |editor-last=Smith |editor-first=Claire |url=https://link.springer.com/referenceworkentry/10.1007/978-3-030-30018-0_2666 |access-date=2024-12-20 |place=Cham |publisher=Springer International Publishing |language=en |doi=10.1007/978-3-030-30018-0_2666 |isbn=978-3-030-30018-0 |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Global Archaeology}}</ref> [[Shona people|Shona]] [[oral tradition]] attributes Great Zimbabwe's demise to a salt shortage, which may be a figurative way of speaking of land depletion for agriculturalists or of the depletion of critical resources for the community.<ref name="auto">{{cite book |last=Silva |first=Alberto da Costa |author-link= |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yLTrAAAAMAAJ |title=A enxada e a lança: a África antes dos Portugueses |publisher=Editora Nova Fronteira Participações S.A. |isbn=9788520939475 |location=Rio de Janeiro |publication-date=2009 |page= |language=Portuguese |trans-title=The Hoe and the Spear: Africa before the Portuguese |chapter=15. Zimbabué}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Pikirayi |first=Innocent |title=Cities in the World: 1500-2000: v. 3 |date=2006 |publisher=Routledge |edition=1st |chapter=The Demise of Great Zimbabwe, ad 1420–1550: An Environmental Re-Appraisal |doi=10.4324/9781315095677 |isbn=978-1-315-09567-7 |chapter-url=https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781315095677-3/demise-great-zimbabwe-ad-1420%E2%80%931550-environmental-re-appraisal-innocent-pikirayi}}</ref>{{Rp|page=10}} It is plausible the [[aquifer]] Great Zimbabwe sat on top of ran out of water, or the growing population contaminated the water.<ref name=":8">{{Cite journal |last=Pikirayi |first=Innocent |date=2024-05-01 |title=Granite Landforms and Water Storage at Great Zimbabwe |url=https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/09719458241258551 |journal=The Medieval History Journal |language=en |volume=27 |issue=1 |pages=254–279 |doi=10.1177/09719458241258551 |issn=0971-9458}}</ref>

From the early 15th century, international trade began to decline amid a global economic downturn, reducing demand for gold, which adversely affected Great Zimbabwe. In response to this, elites possibly expanded regional trading networks, resulting in greater prosperity for other settlements in the region. By the late 15th century, the consequences of this decision would have begun to manifest, as offshoots from Great Zimbabwe's royal family formed new dynasties, possibly as a result of losing succession disputes.<ref>{{Citation |last=Newitt |first=Malyn |title=Southern Zambezia States and Indian Ocean Trade, 1450–1900 |date=2018-05-24 |encyclopedia=Oxford Research Encyclopedia of African History |url=https://oxfordre.com/africanhistory/display/10.1093/acrefore/9780190277734.001.0001/acrefore-9780190277734-e-289 |access-date=2025-02-18 |language=en |doi=10.1093/acrefore/9780190277734.013.289 |isbn=978-0-19-027773-4}}</ref> According to oral tradition, [[Nyatsimba Mutota]], a member of Great Zimbabwe's royal family, led part of the population north in search for salt to found the [[Mutapa Empire]].{{Efn|According to tradition, the move came about because the king was tired of eating salt made from goat's dung.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Huffman |first=T. N. |date=1972 |title=The Rise and Fall of Zimbabwe |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-african-history/article/abs/rise-and-fall-of-zimbabwe/DF9B15B96E63ADFFC62967F9F2801703 |journal=The Journal of African History |language=en |volume=13 |issue=3 |pages=353–366 |doi=10.1017/S0021853700011683 |issn=1469-5138}}</ref>}}<ref name=":13">{{Citation |last=Pikirayi |first=Innocent |title=Great Zimbabwe, 1100–1600 AD, Rise, Development, and Demise of |date=2020 |pages=4696–4709 |editor-last=Smith |editor-first=Claire |url=https://link.springer.com/referenceworkentry/10.1007/978-3-030-30018-0_2666 |access-date=2024-12-20 |place=Cham |publisher=Springer International Publishing |language=en |doi=10.1007/978-3-030-30018-0_2666 |isbn=978-3-030-30018-0 |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Global Archaeology}}</ref> It was believed that only their most recent ancestors would follow them, with older ancestors staying at Great Zimbabwe and providing protection there.<ref name=":72"/> [[Angoche Sultanate|Angoche]] traders opened a new route along the [[Zambezi]] via Mutapa and [[Ingombe Ilede]] to reach the goldfields west of Great Zimbabwe, precipitating its decline and the rise of [[Khami]], the capital of the [[Kingdom of Butua]].<ref name=":122">{{Cite book |last=Waarden |first=Catrien Van |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=u1SqMwEACAAJ |title=Butua and the End of an Era: The Effect of the Collapse of the Kalanga State on Ordinary Citizens : an Analysis of Behaviour Under Stress |date=2012 |publisher=Archaeopress |isbn=978-1-4073-1019-0 |language=en}}</ref>{{Rp|page=50}} By the 16th century, political and economic power had shifted away from Great Zimbabwe to the north and west. The site likely continued to be inhabited into the 17th century, before it was eventually abandoned.<ref name=":13" />