Editing Great Zimbabwe (section)

===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>