Preserving Shona and Venda culture and heritage to develop tourism post-1994: A case of the Mapungubwe Cultural Landscape, Limpopo, South Africa

Abstract

The Mapungubwe Cultural Landscape is set against the northern border of South Africa, joining Zimbabwe and Botswana, at the confluence of the Limpopo and Shashe rivers. UNESCO listed the Mapungubwe Cultural Landscape as a World Heritage Site in 2004, because the remains found at the site created an impressive cultural landscape as a heritage site of universal significance. The World Heritage Site contains a wealth of information from archaeological investigations at the K2 and Mapungubwe sites both situated in the Middle Limpopo valley that have been excavated since the 1930s. An analysis of the historical context of the Mapungubwe Cultural Landscape, specifically examining the Shona and Venda cultures, presents a unique opportunity to develop cultural heritage tourism experiences. These initiatives can contribute significantly to the preservation of cultural traditions and practices. The Mapungubwe Cultural Landscape represent a sequence of human settlement, subsistence farming, and state development between 900 and 1300 AD. An Early Iron Age settlement (during the middle of the first millennium AD) left evidence of their pottery at Mapungubwe Hill. A royal African farming community ruled over their capital K2 during the 11th and 12th centuries AD. During the 12th and 13th centuries Mapungubwe Hill became a royal African state trading with Arabia and India via East African ports along the Indian Ocean and may be seen as a watershed moment in the history of the African subcontinent. Within the so-called Zhizo archaeological sites are the remains of three capitals - Schroda; Leopard's Kopje; and one located around Mapungubwe Hill. The remnants from these sites are a remarkable testimony to the emergence and subsequent demise of the Mapungubwe state, which was the greatest known kingdom in the African subcontinent at its peak. Mapungubwe also portrays the influence of climate change recording the kingdom's expansion and subsequent collapse as it became vulnerable to irreversible change. Pre-colonial societies in the southern part of Africa are related to one another with specific reference to the Mapungubwe Kingdom, the Shona- and Venda-speaking people, and particularly their traditions, tangible and intangible heritage (e.g. rainmaking and burial rituals). Artefacts such as shells, pottery, ivory, glass beads, gold bangles, and the famous golden rhinoceros, recovered from Mapungubwe Hill, are proof that this kingdom's artisans were smelting gold. In the Shashe-Limpopo confluence area, 150 rock art locations have been identified, with most of the engravings being discovered at the same locations as paintings. There is strong circumstantial evidence that these rock paintings and engravings were created before around 1050 AD probably by hunter-gatherers, when the area became inhabited by the Iron Age farmers of Mapungubwe. The golden rhinoceros found in an excavated royal grave on Mapungubwe Hill is a testament to the prosperity of the polity of Mapungubwe. Both the archaeological setting and the black rhinoceroses' ethnographically derived symbolic value among Shona and Venda speakers. This study contributes to the research on ways to create cultural heritage tourism experiences focussed on the Shona and Venda cultures. This type of tourism development could also contribute to sustainable economic growth, to secure foreign exchange derived from tourism in the Limpopo region, and specifically in the Mapungubwe National Park which is within the World Heritage Site. Cultural heritage tourism is based on the cultural resources of Mapungubwe Cultural Landscape and the preservation and presentation of Shona and Venda arts, music, and culinary traditions. This can lead advancements in heritage, creative and gastronomical tourism in this region.