BY DR. TONY MONDA
Archaeologist’s primary concern is to understand activities and the way of life of pre-historic people and cultures. The collation of this information helps us to not only understand the lifestyles of the people that lived at that time, but to use this information to improve our own lives today and better understand how to manage and preserve our environment in this age of climate change.
Christopher Samkange Tawengwa, an ardent follower of my archaeological research on Zimbabwe’s rock art has followed with keen interest the historical, cultural and archaeological narratives in my articles since 2016. He recently revealed to me an amazing pre-historic cave site near Domboshava. The unique complex of granite monoliths, shelters, caves and caverns immediately seized my interest and coerced me to explore this/the mysterious sacred socio-religious sites
It was a crisp windy morning at the end of winter when I scaled up the granite mountain with Tawengwa. The arduous climb to the complex of caves granite was alternating exhilarating and intimidating. My vertigo was at its peak as I willed myself to the summit of the site. The climb and the sight at the summit site winded me as I held on to tree shrubs growing precariously between crevices to steady myself.
My guide, sensing my loss of balance, when vertigo got the better of me, frequently had to stop to help me up the vertiginous hill as we negotiated between smooth and slippery rock faces, nooks and crannies and steep and narrow ledges. I persisted to the summit nonetheless, literally on all fours!
Once on the summit I was awe struck by the views and what lay before me. Nothing could have prepared me for the magical views, monoliths, caves, unusual ingenious rock art friezes and wealth of historical and archaeological information, contained in this little known and extraordinary pre-historic site.
Christopher Samkange Tawengwa, also known by his street moniker Ras Gororo, is the cultural keeper and curator of Chipumburu Hill and Rock shelter site. Interestingly, Cde. Tawengwa had requested the Natural Resources Board to protect the mountain as a conservation area under the Natural Resources Act; in turn protecting the ecosystem and the cultural value of the mountain for both ecological and cultural reasons.
He believes the preservation of the site should be sponsored and supported for the benefit of the inhabitants of the area. Interpretation of our archaeology should be interpreted in indigenous languages to encourage keener interest and a better understanding of the natural and human evolution of the country and its people. According to Tawengwa “it is important for the archaeology of Zimbabwe to be interpreted in indigenous languages of the people to better understand and appreciate their heritage, archaeology and ecology“.
Situated near Domboshava Chipumburu Hill, The Lone Hill is sheltered in a fairly wooded miombo and surrounded by natural indigenous flora. At an altitude of 1579 metres, it is higher than the surrounding granite hills and overlooks the greater complex of pre-historic site of Domboshava caves, located at an altitude of 1555 metres in the northern direction of the site.
Overlooking Ngoma Kurira and the greater network of caves is a large hemispherical cave with multiple rooms on two granite tiers. This cave, located on the southern edge of Chinamora, commands a magnificent view of the surrounding country. Oral history has it that the cave was used in rain supplication ceremonies as well as for various hunting, fishing and war expeditions.
From its clear vantage point the skyscape and surrounding vista at the summit of the granite hill is amazing to behold. According to archaeological research, the granite batholiths around this complex are documented to be over 3000 million years old.
There is a steep spiral climb to the summit of the hill between nooks and crannies that are negotiable only with the guidance of its curator Cde. Tawengwa. The caves situated halfway up the hill are the heart of the site. Here, in these caves I came face-to-face with our origins. I felt a strong sense of who we are, and where we came from as a people.
Within the main cave complex are seven distinct chambers/cavities, many seeps, a spring, numerous rooms and antechambers, a four roomed sleeping chamber/cavity, and a watch tower that pays tribute to the Creator’s natural architecture. Apart from the natural architectural features, there are outdoor amenities existing of a pottery furnace, a natural semi-circular amphitheatre with granite seating, complete with a granite podium and a natural granite altar site with pulpit.
The unique cave site has strategic drainage holes that prevent water logging in the cave and natural air vents in the roof of the cooking area in the cave that allow smoke to escape.
Of special interest are the many rock art friezes on the roof and outer sides of the cave which is very unusual in the studies of cave art. At the rear of the cave are minimalist friezes of a kudu, a troop of baboons, domestic animals, hunting dogs, giraffes, felines, francolins and guinea fowl, as well as unusual baboons with humanoid legs. The rock paintings are still well preserved and are positioned in spaces with least sunlight penetration, specifically to the north, south and west of the site.
On the roofs of some of the caves, in the antechamber and cooking area are other interesting friezes of people in sleeping postures. Some of the paintings make references to fish and water snakes as well as cloud bursts that allude to the supposition that it was an important rain shrine.
A fair amount of indigenous fruit trees such as matowhe, muhacha, mutsubvu and mutamba create a self-propagating natural orchard at the foot of the rock shelter. Miombo woodland and other indigenous trees also provide a temperate micro climate that reduces the effects of evaporation, erosion and leaching and maintains a moderate temperature surrounding the site.
At the base of the granite batholiths are found pottery shards, grinding stones and grinding holes. The pottery remains illustrate a sophisticated culture with advanced pottery decoration techniques of scrafiggio ideograms and indented chevron patterns as well as stippled herringbone designs, triangles and circles, unusual for Iron Age pottery. Decorated clay pipes and clay flutes, also rare Stone Age artefacts, are found at the site.
Non-lithic artefacts at Domboshava/Chipumburu, such as bone points, awls, beads made from ostrich eggs, stone pestles, anvils and hammer stones, metal arrows and spearheads and sophisticated pottery which I had the privileged to examine first hand denote an industry that proves a more sedentary group of indigenous people inhabited these caves. The fact that the site was occupied in the Iron Age is evident.
The term Iron Age is said to denote a period and a particular way of life that in Zimbabwe begins in about 200AD, extending into the first millennium AD. This period is typified by the presence of pottery shards and is sometimes referred to as the early Kutama tradition.
Chipumburu, the spectacular granite hills and rock shelter site of caves and chambers near Domboshava proved a revelation of the vast and still unknown heritage wealth of Zimbabwe.
Dr. Tony M. Monda is an independent researcher. He holds a PhD and a DBA in visual art and heritage studies. E-mail: tonym.MONDA@gmail.com
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