Who built Great Zimbabwe and when was it constructed?

This is the civilization the previous answer on Great African Civilizations pointed toward when it mentioned the stone cities of the south. Here is the full story.

Who built it

Great Zimbabwe was constructed by ancestors of the Shona people between the 11th and 15th centuries. More specifically, scholars believe it was built by members of the early Gokomere culture, ancestors of the modern-day Shona, who had been farming the valley and practicing metalworking in iron and copper since the 4th century. It is locally known as "Dzimba Dzamabwe," meaning the house of stone or stone buildings.

What they built

The city is divided into three main areas: the Hill Complex, the Great Enclosure, and the Valley Ruins. The Hill Complex is thought to have been the spiritual and religious center. It is thought to have been constructed in the 9th century and occupied until the 13th century. The Great Enclosure was built in the 13th century and inhabited until the 15th century, while the Valley Complex was built in the 14th century. The Great Enclosure is the largest single ancient structure in sub-Saharan Africa. The builders incorporated natural granite boulders and rectangular blocks to form walls up to 20 feet thick and 36 feet high, and they did it all without mortar, the stones held in place purely by their own weight and fit.

How it became a great power

The city grew from a community of farmers and cattle herders to a major economic center, deriving power and wealth from its proximity to resources of gold and the trading routes along the Indian Ocean. Great Zimbabwe dominated trade routes despite not directly controlling village-based mining and smelting, and engaged in the Indian Ocean trade via Swahili city-states such as Sofala. Among the ruins, archaeologists discovered local and imported pottery including Chinese celadon wares, glass beads from India, and Persian faience, indicating that Great Zimbabwe was part of an Indian Ocean trading network even though the complex itself is 300 miles from that ocean.

The kingdom taxed other rulers throughout the region and was composed of over 150 tributaries headquartered in their own minor zimbabwes (stone structures). At its peak, Great Zimbabwe's power peaked from 1300 to 1450 CE, with gold mining from the inland regions connecting into the trade networks of the Indian Ocean via Kilwa and Sofala. Estimates of Great Zimbabwe's peak population around this time range from 10,000 to 20,000.

Why it was abandoned

Great Zimbabwe declined in power in the early 15th century. The nearby tributaries of the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers no longer produced gold flakes and nuggets, which had fueled the economy. By the 1450s the environment was completely exhausted and could no longer support a population of thousands of people, each with their own fields and livestock.

The lie that tried to erase it

This is the part that belongs. When European explorers arrived in the area in the 19th and early 20th centuries, they took artifacts from the ruins and put forward claims that the city wasn't built by Africans at all, claiming it was built by the Phoenicians or other groups from Asia or Europe. Explorer Karl Mauch claimed that he had found cedar from Lebanon at Great Zimbabwe and that "the ruins were built by the Queen of Sheba." Archaeologist Peter Garlake argued that Great Zimbabwe was constructed by the ancestors of the current inhabitants, the Shona people, as opposed to being constructed by a non-African or outsider civilization. This research was opposed by the Rhodesian government, including the prime minister, Ian Smith, and Garlake was forced to leave the country.

These racist narratives have been thoroughly debunked by archaeology, oral history, and carbon dating, all confirming that Great Zimbabwe was built by the Shona people between the 11th and 15th centuries CE. The civilization was never lost to the people who lived there. It was only "lost" to people who refused to believe Africans could have built it.