The ruins that lie behind Zimbabwe

Press, 17 April 1980, Page 17

The ruins that lie behind Zimbabwe

By

JOHN BROWN

who spent two weeks in

Zimbabwe last October.

The new nation of Zimbabwe, given the world’s seal of approval .at its official "birth” tomorrow, takes its name from a mysterious ruin entirely black African in origin. Robert Mugabe, Marxist guerrilla leader, and first Prime Minister of the new nation, may take some comfort from the fact that the immense ruins of Great Zimbabwe, near Fort Victoria, were the site of a thriving culture many centuries before white settlers put down their stake for this prosperous but troubled land. This soapstone sculptured Zimbabwe bird had been a national emblem long before the new nation’s six million black citizens ever thought of their right to rule. On the flag hastily drawn together by the now discredited ' Muzorewa government, the Zimbabwe bird stood proud On its black background. If whites still almost choke when they, have to use the new name, black citizens can point with pride to the origins of Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe birds could also be an omen for the new nation as they owe their emergence in the modem world to Europeans when they were unearthed by archaeologists in the Great Zimbabwe ruins about the turn of the century. The ruins, in easy walking distance from the plush Zimbabwe Ruins Hotel at the Lake Kyle game park, are the most spectacular remains of human construction in Africa south of the Sahara. When the Zimbabwe birds were brought Out of the walled site, now known as “the Acropolis,” they were linked with reports from the early Portuguese which associated Zimbabwe with biblical Ophir and the Queen of Sheba, The huge carved birds which stand on soapstone shafts about six feet in height, were taken out of the country in the 1900 s and only One complete bird survives in the country of its origin. It may be seen at the National Museum in Bulawayo. . The head only of another bird is now in the Queen Victoria Museum in Salisbury. The lower half of this bird is to -be found in the. Bolkerkunde Museum, Berlin. The first Zimbabwe bird found by Willi Posselt in

1889 was sold to Cecil Rhodes. Paradoxically, this symbol of Zimbabwe’s memorable past is now at Groote Schuur, the official residence in Cape Town of South African prime ministers. Black Zimbabweans would not fail to realise the significance of a return of this famous symbol but few expect such a magnanimous gesture from South Africa.

The building of the Great Zimbabwe began in the late thirteenth century. It was ; the centre for a small but strongly centralised authority backed by religious and economic power in a strategic position between centres of production and marketing. This, according to a European archaeologist, Peter Garlake, was a . “combination that was obviously favourable to a rapid expansion.” He could well have been talking about the modern state of Zimbabwe which is also ideally poised for its rapid expansion.

All but one of the Zimbabwe birds were discovered in the lofty site of the Acropolis on a granite hill overlooking the valley. Willie Posselt was quick to realise their worth as “trophies” and he started a process which robbed the areas of thousands of valuable articles. This rape of the country’s cultural symbols caused archaeological damage that can never be repaired.

It is to Posselt, however, that we owe the first

written description of what he saw when he mounted the hill of Great Zimbabwe in June, 1889: “There is an enclosure which served as a cattle kraal. I saw four soapstones, each carved in the image of a bird facing east; one stone shaped like a millstone and about nine inches in diameter with a number of figures carved On the border. The ‘bird’ stones were planted in an old ruined wall within the enclosure." Posselt began to dig out one of the best specimens of the bird stones but he was interrupted by the excited chatter of his Mashona bearers. “J fully expected them to. attack but. I was able to tell them I had no in-

tention of removing the stone but that I was quite prepared to buy it. This evidently pacified them for I was not molested further." Next day, Posselt returned with some blankets and coloured glass beads and in exchange for these received one bird stone and the round perforated stone. “The former was too heavy to be carried out and I was therefore obliged to cut off the pedestal. I stored the remaining stones in a secure place, it being my intention at a future date to return and secure them from the natives.” Posselt never did return but there were plenty 'of other Europeans waiting to make their way to the archaeological prizes of the Great Zimbabwe. When Posselt returned

to the Transvaal he tried to persuade President Kruger to buy the bird and perforated stone for the Transvaal Museum. Kruger was slow to pay, so Rhodes bought them. Little did Cecil Rhodes realise then how significant were the finds he had purchased, and how much significance they would have for a state that later took his name. All the birds are about 355 mm high and surmount columns 914 mm high. The soapstone from which they are carved is a soft green-grey talc fairly common in Zimbabwe. They are the only sculptures of any size or complexity, or displaying any attempt at representation from Great Zimbabwe, dr

any south-central African prehistoric site. 'Birds which have been discovered are of two distinct groups. Five squat firmly on bent legs, their heads projecting forwards at right angles to their long necks; they do not have, tails and their wings come to a point at the back. The Other group have heads looking upwards forming a continuation of the neck. The legs hang down limply, they have squarish wings and stubby, fan-shaped tails.

No person has been able to identify clearly what species of bird are portrayed in. the sculptures, but they have been labelled as “ideograms” — conventional statements of a general avian theme.

Each bird sculpture has been deliberately carved in some way different to the others, such as circles on the wings, a chevron pattern beneath the feet, and circles with a crocodile carving at the feet. No clearcut statements as to the historical significance of the Zimbabwe birds has been found but the general belief is that they are connected with an ancestor cult. It is significant that the black Zimbabwean religion is one where the spirits of the dead members of the family are regarded as having an influence on events in the lives of their descendants.

The birds may have recollected the ancestors of chiefs, and thereore were suitably located in the most sacred part of the ruins. Many other relics, such as soapstone bowls and gold-plated wooden ornaments, were found in the same part of The Acropolis. Although experts have debated the exact details of the birds’ origin, they are certain on one major point — no items that have been found at Great Zimbabwe fail to meet the claim that the ruins are of Bantu origin and medieval date. The birds as a national symbol have been widely used by the nation’s 230,000 whites since the emerging state of Zim-babwe-Rhodesia was set up last year. The Zimbabwe bird is one of the symbols which black and white Zimbabweans share with ease. Its common acceptance may bode well for the future of the world’s newest state.