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Perched on a plateau 985 feet long and 164 feet high, Mapungubwe is surrounded by sandstone cliffs and can be reached only by rope. The people who lived there transported to the top 2,000 tons of soil for farming. They created intricate gold artifacts and pottery and traded goods as far away as India and China. Since discovery of its ruins in the 1930s, Mapungubwe has been owned and excavated by the University of Pretoria. Because South Africa's apartheid system taught that South Africa was uninhabited until the white settlers arrived in the 17th century, it was considered an embarrassment for the South African government or to the conservative University to admit that they had discovered this ancient African city. So this great treasure found at Mapungubwe has remained in the University's basement, hidden away from the public for the past seventy years. Historians and archaeologists now can tell us that Mapungubwe is one of hundreds of similar ancient towns in Southern Africa that were settled by black Africans more than 1,000 years ago. Compiled by Jamila White |
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Mapungubwe is a 1,000-year-old city located at the basin of the Limpopo River in South Africa. It reached its height during the 11th century and was the first in a number of trading states developed by the Bantu people who built their wealth through cattle herding.