Revisiting Great Zimbabwe

The following article is in response to a paper by Shadreck Chirikure and Innocent Pikirayi that appeared in Antiquity (2008) revisiting the sequence of Great Zimbabwe, and proposing fundamental changes to the site's interpretation. If you have not yet had the opportunity to read this paper, it may be freely accessed online at: http://antiquity.ac.uk/ant/082/ant0820976.htm. It is anticipated that Chirikure and Pikirayi will make a riposte to this reply in a forthcoming issue of Azania: Archaeological Research in Africa. Chirikure and Pikirayi (2008) offer a new interpretation of Great Zimbabwe. Using a 19th Century principle of political succession, they argue that all major stonewalled buildings in the valley, as well as on the hill, served as separate palaces for successive rulers. Older historical data, however, together with evidence from other Zimbabwe settlements, negate this interpretation.