Archaeological plan of the ruins of Great Zimbabwe, the capital of the medieval (c.1100-1500) Kingdom of Zimbabwe. It is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The site was first discovered by Europeans in 1506 by the Portuguese explorer Diogo de Alcáçova, and was originally though to associated with the Biblical Queen of Sheba. Serious archaeological studies in the early 20th century established the Medieval dating of the site. This map, produced by J. Theodore Bent and his surveyor, E.W.M. Swan, shows the outline of the ruins, including the traces of a great wall surrounding the site. Bent undertook a preliminary survey of the site in 1892 with funding from the Royal Geographical Society and Cecil Rhodes. He incorrectly theorised that the site was either Phoenician or Arab, though this was heavily influenced by his many years traveling in Greece and Asia Minor. By 1910 his theories had generally been disregarded in favour of a kingdom of Bantu origin.

Printed colour. [AFR5529]