Abstract
ARCHAELOGICAL EXPLORATION AT ZIMBABWE.—A noteworthy contribution to the discussion of the origin and date of the Zimbabwe ruins appears in the recently issued vol. xx. of the Proceedings of the Rhodesian Scientific Association in the form of a communication from Mr. H. R. Douslin, lately Director of Public Works, on “Recent Explorations at Zimbabwe.” Mr. Douslin has excavated the ruins on two occasions. In 1909 the trench made by Dr. Randall-Mac Tver in 1905 was carried down to solid rock by a pit under the wall of the Temple. The base of the foundations was reached at about 2 ft. and the rock at about 10 ft. below surface level. Only broken pottery, of a type common to all the ruins and similar to that made by natives to-day, was found. In 1915 excavations were carried out inside the wall of the Acropolis, which it is assumed was built before the Temple, and a large part of the red-earth filling was removed. The original entrance was discovered-a passage many feet below what is considered to be the original foundation of the wall on the western side. It ended against a dead wall of the internal red - earth filling. This filling, on which many of the internal walls are built, would therefore appear to be of more recent origin than the main outer wall. Solid rock was reached at about ten feet below present surface level, where the old dwellings were found. Their workmanship is superior to that of present-day natives and of a character unknown to them. The finds included two finely ornamented copper bands, an iron shackle, assegais, fragments of a soapstone bowl, and the usual Kaffir beads and pottery. No gold was found, and the author points out that the gold ornaments, etc., for which the greatest antiquity has been claimed, were found on or near the surface ten feet above the original occupation level.
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Research Items. Nature 111, 442–444 (1923). https://doi.org/10.1038/111442a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/111442a0