A-level Notes History - Sources of Southern African History

Introduction to Sources of Southern African History

Research in any particular theme,  issue or society requires the use of a wide variety of sources to reconstruct and provide social,  economic and political  evidence of the past. Sources of historical  evidence are bases,  methods and means used by researchers to rebuild the narrative of settlements,  activities and systems of societies. The fundamental values of the past are seen in the substance of the methods or sources used to uncover and reconstruct the historical gambit. There are primary sources and secondary sources to consider in the assessment of the sources.  From the sources of Archaeology, Written Documents,  Oral Tradition,  Rock Art,  Linguistic Evidence, Anthropological, Video and Ethnography research ,   examination of the primus - primary and secondary qualification is of paramount importance.

Primary Sources of Southern African History

These are actual authentic records of that period  under review,  like records by explorers,  sailing,  manuals,  letters,  diaries, files,  photographs,videos,  maps,  drawings and films.  Published documents and books of accounts or reports are also primary sources, for example government memos,  reports,  advertisements,  notifications,  pamphlets,  maps, posters,  manuscripts and court verdicts.  Primary sources are physical evidence,  unique and irreplaceable.  Museums and National  archives today compile and store these records or preserve them where they are. These are first-hand accounts which can be captured in movies, websites and visual  art of photographs and paintings of the San in caves of Zimbabwe and rest of Southern Africa.

Secondary Sources of Southern African History

In  contrast to primary sources, secondary sources are interpretations,  collated compilations and reports,  books, essays and films from the actual  primary sources. These are second hand accounts with  researcher's input and output. They are sources with direct physical  contact with the events but gotten from a distance bias and prejudice often complicate secondary sources.  Racial, tribal or ethnic,  religious,  language and class barriers infringe on the authenticity of the information. These sources are not unique because they are easily replaceable with  regret. Publications and manuscripts support secondary accounts.  Published and unpublished accounts are essential  in the collection of our history.  Newspapers and Magazines are found in  libraries and archives throughout the world and Zimbabwe. These are also found on different websites though websites can contain primary sources from the digital  images of events captured live without editing. Google of late has been a major source of research or primary evidence.  Historical movies have also provided  both primary and secondary evidence of the immortal  past.

Primary and secondary sources should be debunked further to explain their relevance, diversity and convergence.  In the recovery and reconstruction  of the history of Zimbabwe the inter-disciplinary or the multi-disciplinary approach is essential. The relevance of all sources is paramount for a comprehensive approach gives enough evidence of the past.

Oral Traditions

The source uses interviews for verbal  recollections of past events and systems. The word of mouth is sought as a primary and secondary source to bring a voice to the recovery and reconstruction of the rich  history of Zimbabwe. The oral  recollections are recounted and transmitted widely verbally to the present and future generations.  Oral  histories were how our ancestors transmitted down stories,  music,  customs, folklore,  proverbs,  poems, wisdom and cultures of the past before writing,  archaeology,  rock art and all other sources and is still  relevant today. Traditions and knowledge were passed through generations by oral accounts. When there are primary historical sources,  important information or knowledge of the past is documented and correlated.

Sound recordings may document events,  meetings,  interviews, songs,  poems or oral  history for invaluable records and archives.  Invaluable information  is derived and recorded from eye witness accounts close to the event or to royal families,  spirit mediums,  cultural groups or the elderly of the society. Family trees, genealogies, folk tales, poems, riddles, songs, taboos and religious practices help explain the distant and near past. These are organic expressions of a society's identity and invaluable past.

Merits of Oral Tradition

Invaluable information about Mapungubwe,  Great Zimbabwe, Torwa,  Mutapa and the Rozvi of Zimbabwe has been extracted through Oral tradition. There is abundance of information from oral tradition on basically all events of the memory reachable past of up to 300 years back. Oral tradition is very rich  in  history of Zimbabwean social groups, economic archives and political systems.  Oral  recordings have sounded the Nyakatonje who advised Prince Mutota to migrate to the North East for greener pastures and establish relations with the Portuguese along the Great Zambezi  River.   Settlement in the Zambezi valley provided  Mutota with vast economic opportunities. The area was rich  in minerals,  ivory hunting, favourable weather conditions, fertile soils and pastures.  Salt was in abundance in the Zambezi escapement. Oral tradition  has been able to give names of Chibatamatosi Mutota and Chagura from the Great Zimbabwe state.  It also gives information on the officials of the state from the kings sisters,  sons in law, the Tum bare or Commander of the army and spirit mediums.

Oral tradition  is very elaborate on social activities and the religion of Ziwa,  Mapungubwe and  Great Zimbabwe, Torwa,  Mutapa and Rozvi.  It gives flesh and sound to the salient and silent voices of the past. Information  is passed from one generation to the other through songs (dzimbo),  poems (nhetembo dzehondo nedzemadzinza), folklore (ngano),  riddles (zvirahwe) and taboos (zvierwa). The knowledge and wisdom of the elders are captivated in these social  pass time activities and values.  Recounts from the knowledge base are part of the educational  process instituted  by the societies.

To note are also names,  places and people from the Shona Orature.  From Great Zimbabwe rulers,  Munembire Mudadi or Chibatamatosi  is given as the father of Nyatsimba Mutota the founder of Mutapa State.  Chibata Matosi  is given as the last ruler of Great Zimbabwe, Dombo Dyembeu is given by oral tradition as the founder of the Rozvi state. This information from oral tradition is cheap to recover and very accessible as it is readily available.  Community leaders are more than willing to provide all information for free and all times. Availability of these people makes our history interesting.  Historical  reciters of the past can take to poems,  songs and dances to express their points. The story by master story tellers (vana nyanduri) are captivating.  Collective memories on the successes and failures of Zimbabwe are national  heritage.  Oral tradition is also participative.  It involves story tellers to interact in face to face audio and video recordings and interviews. The graphic and physical  reconstruction of the past are vividly reconstructed on first or second hand accounts.  First hand or eye witness accounts are often handy on the near past of colonisation and Christian  missionaries,  First and Second Chimurenga and Independent Zimbabwe whereas second hand accounts cover the distant past of states and societies. All information  is collaborated or verified  by many sources.  Information  is elaborate and reference can be made to other sources.

Demerits of Oral Tradition

The word of mouth is subject to bias and prejudice. All human beings are active or passive actors who when given the platform may inform or mislead their audience.  Everyone wants to be a main actor and so the drama exaggerates and distorts information. Truth is often romanticised and creamed to attract attention.  Information  is often overshadowed by heroism and serious matters are overlooked when they do not generate interest or heroism of the narrators.  Misinformation is often both deliberate and unintentional.  Sensitive issues are left out because at times they are a taboo or constitute secrets of a family or society. At times oral tradition  is prone to myths and folklore which are construed by others as truth , like the stories of hare and the baboon.  Shona unconfirmed myths attribute the rise of Great

Zimbabwe to a mythical  larger than life hunter Nyakunembire said to have hailed in the Congo rain forest. Other myths are on Mutapa and Rozvi. On Nyatsimba, there is a story of three musketeers namely,  Nyatsimba Chinengebere and Chitokodzima who left Great Zimbabwe for greener pastures,  but along the way they slept under a huge tree before Guruve and when they woke up,  Nyatsimba was soaked to the skin by dripping honey from the tree and hence the name Mutota. The Rozvi  Mambo is said to have possessed magical powers even to change the colour of heads of cattle.  Myths have it that he could use bees to fight wars and that he could also be found in different places at the same time.

Orature is often affected by loss of memories when respondents may mix up names and dates,  places and stories.  Some dates are not definitive as they are given through events like,  Gore rehwiza,  Gore renzara,  Gore remhashu,  Gore remhezi,  Gore redutu guru.  Names of successive leaders in Great Zimbabwe,  Mutapa and Rozvi are not in sequential and temporal order. The respondents are not often educated,  learned or intelligent. They give limited  information without detail  or necessary analysis.  So information about prevalence of a pandemic or disaster does not help much on time factor.  Most of these are second hand accounts or secondary sources which often bring incoherent and contradictory information. Vague,  hazy and confusing  information  result in exaggerations and distortion  of information. However,  orature offer an invaluable complement and supplement to other sources. Important historical  information  may be lost through migrations,  death or collective memory by a particular society like it is very difficult to extract substantial  information about Ziwa, Zhizo,  Bambandyanalo,  Leopard's Kopje,  Mabveni and Mapungubwe through oral tradition.  Little is known or seen as sacred,  a taboo or uncultured to talk about some of

these ancestral  homes and oracles.  Information  on many events and settlements has suffered from time.  Memories or information from oral traditions normally does not last for twelve generations or 300 years. After this period,  information gathered is a matter of conjecture,  expressions of opinion or speculation than objective history. A whole society can live with a mythical  lie.

Archaeology

This is the scientific study of artefacts and fossils, which are the physical  remains of the past. These materials are excavated at various settlement sites and scientifically investigated for their origins and period.  Carbon and Potassium dating are used in this investigation. The physical  remains include evidence left at  such settlement sites like Gokomere,  Mabveni,  Malipati,  Zhizo,  Leopard Kopje,  Bambandyanalo,  Matopos, Tunnel rock,  Zimbabwe acropolis,  Khami,  Nalatale,  Dhlodhlo and Zinjanja. There are also various other sites in  Mozambique's Tete,  Manica and Chimoio area,  South Africa and Botswana's Toutswe Serowe and Palapye monumental  sites.  Besides the settlement sites,  remains of houses and kraals and clay pots of various sizes and texture,  graves of bones and other material valuables,  cattle  bones,  seeds and iron tools and implements were unearthed. Foreign goods like cloth,  ammunition,  shells and guns,  Persian bowls,  Chinese glass and wares were also discovered attesting for a lucrative trade. Archaeology has been helped by some of these material  remains in the reconstruction of our history from our yester years. 

Merits of Physical Evidence

By virtue of investigating  physical  remains and using scientific study, archaeological evidence merits the recollection and reconstruction of our history. The physical  evidence are kept in museums and archives for future study and verification  study.  One other advantage is that,   Carbon and Potassium dating techniques provide dates for the artefacts and fossils and immensily help rewrite the history of the past societies.  Scientific study of remains has been used to reconstruct and generate knowledge on the history of the Stone Age societies and the Iron Age Communities on the Zimbabwe's  plateau.  Discovery of livestock bones and kraals attest to a pastoral society whilst remains of terraces and seeds attest to a cereal cultivating economy .   Classes are shown through the graves and homesteads which are more elaborate.

Archaeological  study has discovered large settlements from Ziwa to Matopos and Great Zimbabwe. The elaborate stone acropolis attest to wealth permanent settlements and fundamentally  complex societies. They were engaged in vast economic archives as shown in discovery of bones of cattle, sheep, goats and pigs and the discovery of mining pits and iron tools and weapons which point to the mining of copper, tin,  iron ore, and gold for both domestic and foreign use and trade. Various crop cereals were grown like gourds, millet,  sorgum,  rapoko,  melons,  pumpkins,  peas and nuts. This is evidence of an agricultural economy. Their own domestication was the domestication of crops and livestock.

Various figurines were unearthed on these sites.  Gold,  Copper, tin,  Ivory and stone figurines were also excavated and helped to reconstruct the education system where young boys and girls were initiated  into manhood and womanhood. Archaeological study is the work of professionals with sophisticated machines and thus gives mostly credible evidence. Various social games and sports by the people of the past were discovered on stone and ivory,  carvings and flat hills (paruware). These included  'nhodo and tsoro.'-(Zimbabwe games)

Demerits

Archaeological  study is subject to human manipulation and distortion  like the case of Zimbabwe where colonial  appointees of Rhodes deliberately studied and published distorted information to misinform tourists about the origins of Great Zimbabwe. They deliberately misinformed the world that the magnificent stone walled mortarless structure was built by Asians and Europeans. The utter hog-wash served to promote and justify exploitation and colonisation. The Eurocentric and the Afrocentric views are different and diverse on the reconstruction of Great Zimbabwe.

Physical  remains like the memory of the Orator fade with chemical erosion and age. Fossils and artefacts are destroyed by weathering and natural disasters like volcanic eruptions, floods and veld fires.  Human and animal tempering also destroy evidence. Various other people might settle at the source sites and information  is  naturally destroyed by human activities. The physical  remains also distort information when their memory loses track of time.  Archaeological evidence has no human voice to support or refute claims and purposeful scientific discoveries. There is  no voice or verbal  interaction to argue and debate discoveries.  It also does not give names of the sites and people. Theories and archaeological  hypothesis are not defended or verified  by some means from the past,  near or far. This is the study of dry bones which should be given fresh life and blood to resurrect. It is salient and silent on Zimbabwean dynasties and the dynastic ties and matrimonial alliances, foreign relations and wars. The language spoken by the inhabitants of the settlement sites is not known. Their cultural values,  customs and tradition is vague.  Religion is  not also pronounced by archaeology. This is a dead end subjected to conjecture.  More evidence is on economic activities than on political and social organisation.

There is an ever reliance on the study of clay pots as evidence to differentiate cultures and societies of the Zimbabwean plateau. Armature archaeologist portray the history of Zimbabwe like the history of clay pots and not human beings.  Even so it also reduces our history to that of bones, fossils and artefacts. Archaeological study is expensive.  It calls for experts,  learned scientists to be hired,  scrappers or labourers to excavate sites. This often results in broken equipment and physical  remains.  It requires patience and use of small tools to excavate.  It is time consuming and laborious. There are not many archaeologists in the world,  if they are there, the tools they use are largely expensive and scarce.

Written Documents

This is recorded or documented information  purporting to the history of the Zimbabwean plateau in this context journals,  diaries, sailing manuals, traveller's accounts,  rock art and text books, auto-biography  and maps constitute primary and secondary documented sources essential for the reconstruction of the history of Zimbabwe.  Important records have been obtained from European museums,  particularly from Portuguese,  Spanish and British hunters, traders, explorers,  missionaries and journalists. Arabic written sources are just but a handful  on Zimbabwe.  In  Madjid's sailing manual  and in Batuta scantly left second hand accounts on Zimbabwe. They cover a limited  area on gold and ivory trade.

Merits of Written Documents

Primary sources of Portuguese and Arabic accounts are very essential  in providing evi• dence on the reconstruction of history of the Zimbabwean  plateau, which covers the greater part of today's Mozambique,  Northern South African  provinces,  Eastern Botswana, Zambia, Tanzania and the Congo basin.  Information about Zimbabwe's  influence is endlessly serviced from coastal town markets along the Vast Indian  Coast.

Arabic sources though very few and scant help to inform about Chinese and Arabic long distant trade, asserted by the Swahilis into the plateau which was essentially from the 4th century AD. The earliest sources though coming in  handy,  do not necessarily mention the names Zimbabwe,  Mutapa or Rozvi,  but some such names as Butua, Tete,  Manica, Zambezi and Dande. These primary sources have provided inviolable and valuable information about the lucrative trade in gold and ivory for the Asian market in return for cloth, few guns and gunpowder,  Russian bowls and Chinese ceramics. The Swahili Arab

traders acted as middlemen between the Indian Coast and inland Zambezia. These traders provided  both first hand and second hand accounts; first hand from their diaries and reports on the abundance of gold and ivory in Zimbabwe

The Portuguese documents began in earnest from the 14th century AD when their traders ventured into the Zambezi Valley from their Indian colony of Goa, the gold and ivory wealth attracted the Portuguese crown to sponsor traders and Christian  missionaries to challenge the Arab and Chinese traders. There is a sea of information from the Portuguese archives and museums on Zimbabwe. The first Portuguese accounts of their first encounter on the plateau are secondary sources from the Swahili  and Arab traders who ventured into the interior and acted as the middlemen. The secondary as they are,  remain invaluable to the reconstruction of the Zimbabwean history.  Diego Alcarova was one of the first Portuguese explorers on the Plateau who collected valuable information on Great Zimbabwe's economic activities and scantly informed on some political  and social turbulence on the Plateau. This information  is not detailed and does not give definitive evidence but cannot be discarded because it is true and credible.  However, the Portuguese documents gained momentum from the 15th  Century when the Portuguese traders,  hunters and prazeros (farmers) developed interest and opted to live in  Muta pa.  On the other hand the Portuguese government and sometimes the Spanish crown that briefly took over Portugal  sponsored missionaries to relatively pacify the radical  monarchies of the Zimbabwean  plateau. The documents from this period give vivid accounts of trade, trading markets like Manyika, Vengere,  Masapa, Tete and Manica. They detail the execution of the Domican Missionary Father Gonzalo Da Silveria in  1561  by Mutapa Mupunzagutu and the subsequent invasion of Mutapa by the Barreto and Diego Homen in  1569 and 1575  respectively.

The influx of Portuguese Conquistadores  in the Mutapa State opened Portuguese floodgates for permanent settlements in feiras (trading stations and markets),  prazos, Mutapa's courts and hunting ground.  Details are abound about Portuguese mercenaries who reigned terror through Kangaroo courts on prazos and feiras, who created Chikunda military bandits to terrorise the Plateau for gold,  ivory and slaves. This period  is well covered into the reign of puppet rulers of Mutapa like Mavhura and Gatsi  Rusere. There is also evidence of treaties signed between the Portuguese and the Mutapa puppet rulers. The Portuguese newspapers,  government memos,  letters and journals are plenty on

coverage of the Mutapa state. Clashes between the Portuguese and the Arab traders on the plateau are also vividly documented. 20th century historians  like Mudenge,  Chigwedere and Beach depended heavily on Portuguese written evidence to reconstruct the social,  political and economic systems of Mutapa state. These historians  rely heavily on the primary accounts of Portuguese settlers in Mutapa.  Imperatively they attest to the Great Stone Walls throughout the plateau.

Written evidence if primary, often gives accurate names of people and places though spellings are often corrupted by the Portuguese language and often misinterpretations  into English.  During the 19th  Century Christian  missionaries from mainly Portugal,  Britain  and France were joined by hunters,  explorers, concession seekers and other traders to write reports and draw the political and economic map of Zimbabwe.  Rudd, Tati and Baines were joined by Grabler,  Moffat and Lippert with documents on Zimbabwe, especially the decline of the Rozvi state and Ndebele which provides imperical evidence on Zimbabwe. Written evidence is abound and survive longer during peaceful times.  It can also be collaborated and complemented  by other sources.  It is easy to follow if written  in a language that the researcher understands.

Demerits of Written Documents

Written evidence is like oral tradition and suffer immensely from prejudice and bias.  It is easily opinionated and distorted for political  or religious reasons.  Information  by early Arabic accounts of lbn  Madjid and lbn  Batuta lack detailed and topics. They are vague and often confusing  on names and even the subject matter. They are subjective in that there is no acknowledgement of the economic,  social and political existence of a society or state. They bluff on trading with  Butua and Zambezia with misspellings. These are obviously second hand secondary sources of tired and individuals  bereft of any "learned" knowledge on societies and nature of economy and politics. They were ignorant or they ignored funda• mental guides of reporting and analysis. Arab-Swahili traders had physical encounters with the interior but Arabic sources have no substance on the nature of the societies on the plateau. The information  lacks "school" and "objectivity".

Even early Portuguese accounts by the likes of Diego de Alcarova are bereft of detail and definitive subject matter on the nature of the society. They are obviously second hand accounts from the Swahili-Arab traders who dominated trade on the plateau. They do not specifically spell  out any state like  Mapungubwe,  Great Zimbabwe, Torwa,  Mutapa and Rozvi. They refer to the Zambezia and Butua. The sources suffer from misspellings and misinterpretations of events. They were often pnot necessary. The later Portuguese accounts after the death of Father Gonzalo Da Silveira are hot with  propaganda and emotion.  Blame is hipped on Mutapa Mupunzagutu and the Arabs on the execution with  no balanced analysis on why and for what purpose the Domican team was targeted.No Reference is  made that they were under the sponsorship of the Portuguese crown. The sources are biased also on why the crown would waste state resources to fund a brutal military campaign against the Mutapa people defending an independent spiritual  realm. There are Eurocentric and Afrocentric views on the Portuguese written sources.

They ignored the Portuguese atrocities in both Mutapa and the Rozvi empires. They ignored the fact that they fuelled civil wars and strife  in  Mutapa and the Rozvi  states. They colonised Mutapa Mavura and Gatsi  Rusere.  Information  is biased on the Portuguese who played victims and heroes where Mutapas are aggressors and villains in the country. There is no real accounting on how Zimbabwe was underdeveloped  by the Portuguese. They are also silent on Portuguese illegal  slave trade on Mutapa and the Rozvi. The history of Zimbabwe is distorted by the Portuguese who should be held accountable for impunity.

Written  information  is a victim of civilisation.  Most records on the Mutapa and Rozvi were written  by the Portuguese when information from the intruders attest to building of schools in Zimbabwe and the exportation of Mutapa Princesses and Princes to Goa and Lisbon for higher education.  Information  is given selectively for racial  reasons.  Even Christian missionaries who came after the Domican disaster joined the colonial claim to distort the history of the Great Zimbabwe plateau that the people were ungodly,  uncivilised when one who robs and kills is civilised, which is regrettable. They joined the racial claim that Zimbabwe as predicated by the legendary elaborate stone towns was not built by the Zimbabweans  but Asians and Europeans. The religious and racial dichotomy  stink in history.  Propaganda takes over all morals and civilisation to mislead and misinform. Missionary traders and concession seekers ganged up to draw up lies about the relations between the Shona and the Ndebele to drive the hell wedge to divide them for colonial benefits.  Claims on the Shona-Ndebele  relations are bereft with reasoning and religious claims. Written  evidence is always on trial  because even the 20th  Century professors of African Universities copied and pasted biased diaries,  reports and letters without putting them to a truth  commission. Truth is jettisoned to attain doctorates to appease their employers. Written  evidence even by African scholars has been europeanised subconsciously  or consciously to appease the slave masters with  neck and leg chains and irons and the colonial commander with a bible,  cross necklace and automotive weapon. Distortion,  exaggeration,  bias and prejudice information  is  unlimited. 

The past has been immortalised  by rock painters and engravers.   Rock art is pictorial writing left in the shelter of caves strawn all over Southern and Central Africa by ancestors of the Khoisan-hunter gatherer communities of the Early and late Stone Age Khoi  Khoi Headers.  Rock Art provides graphic expression of their social,  political and economic lives. This is a form of writing which unfortunately the world  has not investigated to enable deciphering of the information. A picture tells a million of stories whenever it was left in the caves. The pictorial writing  provides very useful  insights into the way of life of the Stone Age Societies.  Southern Africa  is home to more than 30 000 sites making the region the richest library and museum of the world. Zimbabwe contributes more than 10 000 sites,  making

it the richest individual archive in the world.  Rock art and writing  can be divided  into two distinct categories of hunter-gatherer and farmer art. There is also rock art found north of the Zambezi  River in parts of Mozambique,  Malawi and Zambia by the Twa people.  Rock art has been central to archaeological  investigation on the history of Stone and Iron Age societies in Southern Africa. The Shona and Ndebele people in Zimbabwe preserved them by making the cave dwelling sacred and illegal to stray in. The beauty and workmanship of the art of writing  is fundamentally  complex and advanced that research on the meaning of the art form is still going on among historians, social scientists and archaeologists.  Earlier European and Asian visitors on the plateau were more interested  in  aesthetics than the meaning behind the art work and written evidence. The art work is  nostalgic,  romantic and scintillating,  relaxing,  soothing and healing. The past is immortalised for eternity by pictorial scriptures.

Merits of Rock Art

Historians and archaeologists  have been presented with  invaluable information about the life of the near and distant past. The social,  economic and political trends of the plateau are traceable through rock art.  Social  relations and systems are provided  by pictures of females,  males and children engaging in different activities. The rock pictures unveil the spiritual  realm of the Stone and Iron Age Societies.  Scientists are able to investigate the entire context in which the art is situated, that includes shelters, vegetation,  activities and organisational  structures. The rock art albums highlight various themes or motives to extract information which is conveyed to the viewer. The themes are easy to decipher or simply for the audience marvel. Artists are able to decipher the societal  codes and symbols used by the artists.  Clues have been obtained from ethnographic evidence recorded among the hunter-gatherer habitat of the region in  18th  and 19th  century AD.  More information  is collaborated by the existing  Kalahari and Namib hunter-gatherers  of the 21st Century. Records of early Dutch encounters with the Cape before and after establishment of a refreshment port at the Cape by Yan Van Reebeck in  1652 has invaluably provided more insight into the drawings.

Zimbabwean rock is  unique in that it shows clear, vivid and colourful  pictures of the fauna and flora.  It shows graphic colourful  pictures of human and animal figures, then figures with both animal and human features known as therianthropes (Anaila Nhamo P.13). The pictures also show vegetation.   Human figures are often shown in various activities and postures.  The male genitalia identifies male figures while breasts and big butts identify female figures. The orderly and chaotic spluttering of figures on one page brings in an encyclopaedia Africana of the human race. There is useful  information on climate situation,  social,  political and economic relations,  biological traits,  social division of labour and religious practices.  Stone and iron tools decorate the cave walls, their dress and dwellings are also part of the spice on the carvings.  Healing ceremonies and other figurines grace the spiritual  realm and hover above the cave dwellings like a curtain cloud of grace and history for all generations to venerate, travel, just to peep through,  smile and be healed. The wide repertoire of Zimbabwean  rock is distinct.  It's a book with everyone's title and conclusion.  Garlake sums up the habub and hullabaloo; "If the paintings could mean so much to one man,  one can only  hope they can do the same to many others ...  They were always a large part of Cripps' Physical and mental  landscapes so they can be for others ... " ( Garlake  1997:39)

Rock art dovetails into other sources to complement the study of belief systems, traditions and ideology of the rich  past. The pictures depict a rich  past, the transformative past from the caves in  Marondera,  Guruve,  Rusape, Ziwa,  Matopos,  Khami  and Gutu -- Pomangure and Plumtree.

Information from Rock art is easy to access and collaborate.  Shona Anthropology on "Mandionerepi" attest to the rich  link between the Stone Age and Iron Age Societies.

Demerits of Rock Art

Use of rock art has been overlooked or simply ignored  by archaeologists and historians because of lack of understanding of the language on the cave dwellings.  Researchers have ignored  rock art narratives because of "ignorancia  factata".  Amature historians and archaeologists  have deliberately downplayed the vain and information  left written for us on the rocks. Writing on the walls is  primary and vivid  but with  no listeners and takers. The information  is  rubbished when the text is precise and spot on.  Lack of knowledge and expertise has led to misinformation and misinterpretation  of codes and letters.  In the scramble of the graffiti  researchers come out with  no meaning but stutterings of confusing  information, vague and vain.  Researchers fail to interpret symbols; are they names of places,  people or spiritual  instructions or simply a caption of pass time?

Rock art has been a victim of weathering. Tonnes of information  has been lost through defacing by weathering. Age has taken its toll on the drawings. Alga and rust have eaten into the pictures of deformed figures and narratives.  Human interference,  defacing and activities impacted  heavily on the drawings.  Others have edited the drawings with lack of respect and knowledge of the art. Wild animals have also interfered  by continuous rubbing on the art.  Rock art has also suffered immensely from weather conditions and climatic changes in the region.  Natural disasters have left some pictures partially invisible

and the narrative vague.  Rock art research requires the expertise of educated professional artists and archaeologists.  It is very expensive and time consuming.  Lack of a tablet to decipher the information  has hampered constructive reconstruction  of the history of Zimbabwe.  It is a gargantuan  task to visit and uncover the vast treasure of rock art with an alphabet and a deciphering plate. There is  no art for art's sake. The rock drawings bear similar codes and symbols that are shouting to be discovered.  Mankind lack the technique and mantra to decode and extract meaning from the more than 10 000 rock art sites in Zimbabwe yawning for recognition.

Linguistic Evidence

Reconstruction of history is also done through the study of the human language, codes and symbols or gestures.  Study of language traces the form,  content, accent,intonation  and vocabulary to understand the historical  links of the speakers. The Bantu language has been traced through common words like musikana (Shona) and musichana (Swahili) derived from creation and munhu (Shona), abantu  (Zulu/ Ndebele) and unhu (Kalanga).  Equally the same, the history of Zimbabwe can be traced through the various accents of Manyika, Venda, Zezuru,  Budya,  Karanga,  Kalanga, Tonga and Tavara. The Shona language spoken by the groups attest to a common origin or political and economic union at some stage in the past. These linguistic links have been used to study societies in Vendaland South Africa, Toutswe and Palapye in  Botswana, Tete,  Chimoio,  Manica and Beira in Mozambique and the greater part of Zambia to the Democratic Republic of Congo. The Shona accent is evident and relevant to the study of societies in these areas.

Merits of Linguistic Evidence

The pattern of Shona settlements  in the Southern and Central Africa is traced through linguistic evidence. The movement pattern can be traced through mere verbal  utterances, song and folklore,  poems, taboos and riddles. Through these linguistic devices the origin  of the Shona societies are traceable to East and West Africa,  somewhere around the

Congo- Benue River basin and migrated to Zimbabwe leaving  a trail of evidence.  Language complement other sources with even names of people and places and also societal  cultural engravings.  Previously,  unknown communities could be linked to Shona dialects like Manyika and some Ethiopian societies. This evidence attest to an Ethiopian student who visited  Great Zimbabwe and got into a trance from the rich captivating drums by a traditional group and joined to sing Shona ritual ceremonial songs to the utter amazement of onlookers.  It sounds mythical  but true that intrinsically language unites societies.

Demerits of Linguistics

Linguistic study and evidence require  the expertise of learned  professionals who do their work expeditiously and meticulously to weave linguistic diatribes. Armature linguistic researchers have misinterpreted relations and distorted the Zimbabwe history.  Borrowed foreign words by the Shona especially from the Shona-Portuguese  interaction  has left historians baffled:  eg.

From this summary of words, the Portuguese left a legacy of linguistic influence which researchers ignore for the purpose of ethnographic information which completely distort the history of Zimbabwe. This is so because Southern Africa  is  littered  by Portuguese words. Worse still  if one links Southern Africa with central  and Eastern Africa where the Arabic language constitute 80% of the Swahili  language and 10--15%  influence on all other languages. Corruption or sheer coincidence in words may also negatively influence research for instance, the word "karima" in Arabic means light but the same word in Shona means darkness. The Shona linguistic construction  is muddled in  European word webs and soot which can only be cleaned up by different researchers who understand the damaging influence.  Corruption  of the Shona language on the Zimbabwean  plateau would require extra effort and expenses.

Ethnography

This is the study of ethnical groups as it relates to societal  relations and history.  It is often associated with anthropology.  It uses research methods of interview, field notes, participatory observation,  simulation and survey to collect data.  Study of the cultural values, traditions and customs of an ethnic group is the etiquette for the research using ethnography in the reconstruction of the history of Zimbabwe. The society taboos,  riddles, folklores,  proverbs,  idioms and totems add up to the structure of the ethnic groups. The inter-relatedness of the societal  codes and symbols bring out the relations of the past. Societal and historical  relations are inextricably interrelated,  and interlocked  inseparable.

Merits of Ethnography

It is essentially credible when it is a primary source as it would be obtained from firsthand accounts of the ethnic groups.  Information  is abound from the societies which can be verified and collaborated Shona societies,  historically share the same values and customs and occupy similar environments. The researcher is able to develop new lines of inquiry and demand observable detail  and physical evidence. The society is there to interrogate and compile evidence of their cultural  backgrounds.  Ethnicity is also expressed in the distinct pots,  baskets, shields,  dress, food,  drums and drumbeats on ritual songs and poems. The initiation  ceremonies and the syllabus for boys and girls tally from one ethnic group to the other. The Manyika,  Kalanga, Tavara,  Budya and Karanga share the same ethnic and cultural values and this information  is with the groups at first hand. The Zimbabwean type of decorations of the checked,  cord,  Chevron,  bands and Herringbone patterns are profusely the decorations on huts,  pots and baskets of all the Zimbabwean ethnic groups and many of those with a shona influence throughout Southern and Eastern Africa.  Ethnic culture is  imbued  in religion which is easier to follow and understand by the researchers.

Demerits of Ethnography

Research is time consuming and expensive.  It takes time to colorate  information which makes it expensive to compile information.  Cultural erosion and diffusion influence ethnic societies over time and so the Zimbabwean societies are a concoction  of other European, Asian and regional cultures which distorts data in the reconstruction  of Zimbabwean  history. The Chikanda of Zambia,  Malawi societies of Chewa and Nyanga, the Nguni  incursions

of Mzilikazi,  Soshanga Zwangendaba,  Nxaba amd Nyamazara bombarded the Zimbabwe plateau with a plethora of cultures living the people almost bereft of original culture or ethnic values, traditions and customs. The Portuguese paraphernalia damaged the plateau and were later succeeded by the Christian and Islamic civilizations which were more brutal  and ungodly to the ethnic bedrocks of the Shona.  Research information  is corrupted by biased racist,  colonial  researchers who seek the divide and rule tactics to exploit the divisions they established in provinces in accordance with their ethnic bias,  Mashonaland,  Manyikaland and Matebeleland.  Most information  is subjected to observer bias and ignorance which results in distortion  and exaggerations. The language factor by foreign ethnographic research impact heavily on deciphering information from the various ethnic groups.