Cognitive Archaeology and Imaginary History at Great Zimbabwe
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 2192020 |
|---|---|
| Authors | D N Beach (University of Zimbabwe, corresponding author), David Beach |
| Year | 1998 |
| Volume | 39 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 47-72 |
| Publication date | 1998-02-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Current Anthropology (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0011-3204 • E-ISSN: 1537-5382 |
| Publisher | University of Chicago Press (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1086/204698 |
| OpenAlex | W2004999962 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 59 |
The archaeology of Great Zimbabwe in southern Africa is well developed, but supporting evidence from other disciplines is scanty and often suspect. Consequently, the interpretation of many features of the city that flourished ca. 1200-1500 is difficult. Thomas Huffman's well-known reconstruction of the site's cognitive archaeology relies upon misunderstood documents, dubious oral traditions, and inappropriate comparisons to arrive at a picture of a city that was essentially static in its use of space for at least two centuries. An alternative interpretation is offered that draws upon Shona historical and anthropological sources and, explicitly, imagination to show how political processes within a Shona dynasty could have affected the building of the central part of the city. This model does not pretend to explain every feature of the site, nor does it claim to be more than one of several possible models of its kind. Nevertheless, it corresponds far more closely to the workings of Shona society, as it is known to us from history, than Huffman's
Archaeology · Epistemology · Huffman coding · Interpretation (philosophy · Linguistics · Political science · Politics · Shona · Social science · Sociology · Space (punctuation) · Suspect · The Imaginary · African studies and sociopolitical issues · Anthropological Studies and Insights · Anthropology · Archaeology and Rock Art Studies · History · Law · Philosophy · Psychology
The Maritime Silk Road
Great Zimbabwe, 1100–1600 AD, Rise, Development and Demise of
Great Zimbabwe, 1100–1600 AD, Rise, Development, and Demise of
African Archaeology
Paths of war
New Perspectives on the Political Economy of Great Zimbabwe
Trade and State Formation in Ancient East African Coast and Southern Zambezia
Straight from the cow’s mouth
A Historical Ecology of the Limpopo and Kruger National Parks and Lower Limpopo Valley
The Conundrum of Great Zimbabwe
From Centre-Periphery Models to Textured Urban Landscapes
Shades of Urbanism(s) and Urbanity in Pre-Colonial Africa
Neuroarchaeology
Ritual Space in the Zimbabwe Culture
Mapungubwe and Great Zimbabwe
Beyond Static Models
Signs of Mission
But the Image Wants Danger”
Shona ethnography and Iron Age burials
Seen but Not Told
Climate Variability and Societal Dynamics in Pre-Colonial Southern African History (AD 900-1840)
States, traders, and colonists
Une Critique “Beachienne” de la Littérature d'Expression Anglaise Récente Portant sur les Femmes et la Sexualité en Afrique Subsaharienne
Motion with Caution
Climate change during the Iron Age in the Shashe-Limpopo Basin, southern Africa
Archaeological excavations at Bosutswe, Botswana
Warriors’ and ‘Mighty Warriors’
Reclaiming Great Zimbabwe
Maximum Space around the Typewriter
Social Complexity in Southern Africa
Pathways to Social Complexity and State Formation in the Southern Zambezian Region
New Pathways of Sociopolitical Complexity in Southern Africa
Coercion and Warfare in the Rise of State Societies in Southern Zambezia
A Conversation with Peter Ridgway Schmidt, the Ṣango of African Archaeology
Decisive Evidence for Multidirectional Evolution of Sociopolitical Complexity in Southern Africa
Los límites del cuidado. Organización de la asistencia a domicilio para personas mayores en Madrid y París
The Production, Distribution and Consumption of Metals and Alloys at Great Zimbabwe
Exotica in Context
Zimbabwe Ruins in Botswana
Soapstone birds in soapstone nests
Osteological and stable isotope (δ13C and δ15N) analysis of faunal remains from Khami, Zimbabwe
Debating Great Zimbabwe
Revisiting Great Zimbabwe
Tom Huffman (1944–2022)
Stone architecture and the development of power in the Zimbabwe tradition AD 1270 – 1830
Bushmen
Imperceptible realities
Africa, the Cradle of Human Diversity
Archaeological science, globalisation, and local agency
Inside and outside the dry stone walls
Ethno' plus 'archaeology
Trade and society on the south-east African coast in the later first millennium AD
Elites and commoners at Great Zimbabwe
Archaeology and Oral Tradition
When science alone is not enough
Archaeological naissance at Mapungubwe
Political Economic Mosaics
Local Dynamics and the Emergence of Social Inequality in Iron Age Botswana
Myths, Gender, Birds, Beads
| Unique citing works | 59 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 2,19 |
| Citation span | 1999 - 2026 (28) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 59 |