SOURCES OF HISTORY

Several sources have been used to recover the pre-history and history of the Zimbabwe plateau. These
are;

Oral traditions or orature

Written records

Archaeology

Linguistics

Anthropology

Rock art

Ethnography

Each source has its own strengths and weaknesses or merits and demerits or advantages and
disadvantages. No single source adequately recovers the pre-history and history of the plateau. The
sources complement each other and should be used interchangeably.

When trying to recover and reconstruct the history of Zimbabwe it is important to use the inter-
disciplinary or multi-disciplinary approach which utilizes all sources of history.

Oral Traditions
Oral traditions are verbal recollections of the past. They refer to the passing of information, beliefs and
practices from one generation to the next verbally. They can also be defined as recollections of the past,
orally transmitted, recounted, that arise naturally within and from the dynamics of a culture. They are
shared widely throughout a culture verbally. They may be entrusted to particular people safe keeping,
transmittal and recitation * Oral traditions
are organic expressions of identity, purpose, functions, customs and generational continuity of the
culture in which they occur. They are means of cultural expression. They are not direct experiences of
the narrator.

Examples of oral traditions include family trees, genealogies, folk tales, poems, riddles, songs, dances,
taboos and religious practices.

Merits
Oral traditions have provided useful evidence on pre-colonial states like the Mutapa, Torwa and Rozvi-
Changamire polity. They have also provided names of the rulers and ruling dynasties of pre-colonial
states like Great Zimbabwe.

Oral traditions have also provided useful information on the history of commoners living in pre-colonial
and pre-literate societies of the plateau. For instance traditions on the Mutapa state mention one
Nyakatonje who advised prince Mutota to migrate to the north east to look for salt.

Oral traditions shed more light on the social aspects of the pre-literate societies of the plateau.

Oral traditions complement ‘silent witnesses’ like archaeological findings by shedding more light on the
society and religion of early and later Zimbabwe Culture states like Great Zimbabwe and Rozvi states.
For instance Shona orature identifies the last rulers of Great Zimbabwe as Munembire Mudadi or
Chibatamatotsi. They also identify the founders of the Mutapa and Rozvi states as Nyatsimba Mutota
and Dombo-Dlembeu respectively.

Oral traditions are cheap and easily accessible. There are a lot of community leaders who are willing and
ready to share the past free of charge. This makes the study of Zimbabwe’s past interesting.

Oral traditions can be dramatized through song, dance and praise poetry. They can be very captivating
especially if they are handled by master story tellers.

Oral traditions are part of Zimbabwe’s national heritage. They represent the collective memory of
modern day Zimbabwe. They represent the collective successes and failures of Zimbabwe as a nation

Oral traditions bring us very close to Zimbabwe’s pre-colonial history. Orature is the backbone of all
other sources as it provides the starting point for the reconstruction of Zimbabwe’s past.

Oral traditions are participative. They allow for interaction between the informer and informant through
face to face interviews and audio recordings.

They provide a graphic and vivid reconstruction of the past.

Demerits of Oral Traditions

Oral traditions are prone to myth making. For instance Shona traditions attribute the rise of Great
Zimbabwe to the mythical larger than life hunter Nyakunembire believed to have hailed somewhere in
the Congo rain forest area. They also abound with myths about the rise of Mutapa and Rozvi state
systems.

They are prone to bias, exaggeration and distortion. For instance Chigwedere has over relied on
traditions that have over emphasized the power and influence of the Soko-Mbire dynasty in pre-colonial
Zimbabwe distorting the country’s past in the process. Some pertinent information may be omitted
because the informant will be trying to paint a rosy picture of a particular group.
Oral traditions do not provide dates. They give hazy descriptions of the prevalence of a pandemic or
natural disaster which can’t help much.

Some oral traditions can be incoherent and contradictory. This is evident in accounts about the rulers of
Great Zimbabwe and Rozvi-Changamire dynasty. Great Zimbabwe is linked to the obscure
Chibatamatotsi and the mythical Nyakunembire from the Congo rainforest.

Important historical information can be lost through death and loss of collective memory. For instance
there are little or no surviving traditions on early farming communities such as Ziwa, Zhizho,
Bambadyanalo, Leopard’s Kopje and Mapungubwe.

Most oral traditions cannot survive for more than 12 generations or 300 years. Vital information like
that of early farming communities may be lost forever

Oral traditions are subjective. They are often expressions of opinion and impressions rather than
objective history.

Archaeology

Archaeology is the scientific study of the physical remains of the past such as pottery, buildings and
fossils beneath the ground. Archaeology attempts to recover and reconstruct the past through
excavations or diggings at pre historic sites such as Gokomere, Musengezi, Mabveni, Malipati, Tunnel
Rock, Zimbabwe acropolis and Mapungubwe Hill.

Archaeological remains include pottery, bio facts, and cultural landscapes. Archaeology analyses the
material culture and data that prehistoric societies left behind

Archaeological remains include the remains of pottery, human and animal bones, remains of buildings,
jewelry, fossils and ceramic ware.

Merits of Physical Evidence

Archaeology helps in the reconstruction of prehistoric and preliterate societies such as Ziwa, Zhizho,
Malipati, Leopard’s Kopje and Mapungubwe who have no oral traditions.

It provides accurate dates on prehistoric societies through the use of radio carbon dating techniques.

Archaeology has been useful in generating knowledge about the Stone Age and the Neolithic Revolution
on the plateau.

By examining remains of animals, rocks and other material remains archaeologists have helped to
reconstruct Zimbabwe’s Stone Age pre-colonial past.

The discovery of ancient Iron Age iron workings at various sites have helped shed light on the transition
from the Late Stone Age to the Early Iron Age.
The discovery of cattle, sheep and goat bones points towards the emergence of pastoralism as an
important economic activity.

The discovery of large settlements like Great Zimbabwe demonstrates that the Iron Age was
characterized by large, permanent, settled and complex societies.

Archaeology has been useful in resolving the controversy on the identity of the founders of Great
Zimbabwe. Archaeologists have been able to disprove the claim by colonial historians that Great
Zimbabwe was by Arabs, Semites, Russians and Phoenicians by showing that the building styles, pottery
and material remains at the site were consistent with the Shona way of life.

Demerits of Archaeology

Physical evidence can be manipulated and destroyed by armature archaeologists or during times of civil
strife and natural calamities such as floods.

It has reduced the study of Zimbabwean prehistory to the study of bones, pottery, rocks and other
artifacts.

A perusal of archaeological data gives the impression that prehistoric Zimbabwe was inhabited by pots
not humans.

Archaeology is a silent witness. It has failed to provide the names of ruling dynasties and the language
by preliterate societies of the plateau. For instance there are no names of the Stone Age communities or
the language spoken at Great Zimbabwe.

Written Evidence

This is documentary or recorded evidence. Examples include history text books, journals, letters, diaries
travelers’ accounts and rock art among others. Most written sources on Zimbabwe’s pre-colonial history
come from Portuguese and Arabic writers.

Merits of Written Evidence

Written evidence is useful in the recovery of the history of the plateau especially from the late 15th
century onwards. Portuguese records have been a major source of Mutapa history. They have furnished
details about the names of the Mutapas, economic and social activities as well as trade relations with
the Swahili Arabs as well as the Portuguese themselves.

20th century historians like Mudenge and D.N. Beach have relied on Portuguese written sources to
reconstruct the Mutapa’s political and economic organization. Portuguese records have also proved
useful in the recovery of Rozvi-Changamire history.

19th century accounts by missionaries, hunters and traders have been important in shedding light on
Ndebele raiding activities although with exaggerations. They have also provided information on
Ndebele-Shona relations on the eve of colonization.
Written accounts from Charles Helm and John Moffat give accurate dates on the founding of missions
and missionary activities on the missions. For instance it is known that Inyathi and Hope Fountain were
founded in 1857 and 1870 respectively

Written evidence can survive unaltered for longer periods especially in peaceful and stable
environments

Demerits of Written Evidence

Writers may select what to write or leave out depending on whose side they are. For instance colonialist
and national have given different interpretations of Zimbabwe’s pre-colonial and colonial history based
on their differing motives

Written evidence can be biased. For instance the colonial historians have given distorted views on the
identity of Great Zimbabwe’s builders.

It can be destroyed by fire, floods and wars.

Written evidence can be altered for propaganda purposes. For instance the false view that the Second
Chimurenga started in 1966 when in fact it began in 1963.

Rock Art

These are pictures drawn on cave walls by ancestors of the Khoisan hunter-gatherer communities of the
Late Stone Age. Rock art provides some useful insights into the way of life of pre-historic societies of the
plateau.

Merits of rock art

It has provided useful information on climate, social relations, and biological traits, sexual division of
labor, religious practices, subsistence practices and social stratification among the Stone Age societies of
the plateau.

Rock art complements other sources.

Rock art incorporates ideologies, traditions and belief systems.

Demerits of rock art

Symbols on rock art may be interpreted differently by different historians.

Some symbols on rock art may only be identifiable within a given context.

Some symbols may be graffiti scrambled to pass time and have no symbolic meaning at all.

Rock art cannot be entirely relied on as a faithful representation of economic activities.

It is sometimes difficult to read the patterns and symbols drawn on rocks and cave walls.

Rock art is sometimes art for art’s sake and may have no value as historical evidence.

Linguistics

This is the study of language as it changes over time. Linguistics traces the form, content and vocabulary
of a language in order to understand the historical background of the speakers. For instance the
pronunciation of the word ‘munhu’ (person) by different Bantu communities such as the Shona,
Ndebele, and Kalanga show that these languages had a common origin.

Merits of Linguistic Evidence

Linguistics complements other sources.

Linguistics helps trace the movements of people and their relationships. For instance we learn from
linguistic studies that most Bantu people of Southern Africa had a common origin somewhere in the east
or west of Africa. We also learn that the ancestors of the modern Shona of Zimbabwe originated
somewhere around the Congo-Benue River basin and migrated to Zimbabwe as part of the western
stream of the Bantu migrations.

Linguistics also helps in establishing links between previously unknown communities. For instance
recent linguistic discoveries have established affinities between the Manyika dialects of the Shona with
some language spoken in Ethiopia.

Demerits of linguistics

Learning a language takes a long time.

Wrong interpretation of linguistics may lead to distortion of history. For instance similar words in
different language may have different meanings. For instance ‘karima’ in Arabic means light while the
same word in Shona means darkness.

Ethnography

It’s a branch of Anthropology which focuses on the study of ethnic groups. It involves a study of and
analysis of the terrain, climate and habitat of a cultural grouping. Ethnography also seeks to capture
social meanings and ordinary activities of people in naturally occurring social settings. Ethnography uses
research methods such as interviews, field notes, participatory observation and surveys to collect data
about a cultural or ethnic group.
Merits of Ethnography

It enables the researcher to obtain firsthand information about a cultural group through participatory
observation.

Observation allows the historian to develop new lines of enquiry.

Ethnography complements other sources.

The Demerits of Ethnography.

Observation takes longer to produce accurate research results.

Research information may be corrupted by the observer’s cultural bias or ignorance.

The Early to Late Stone Age cultures of the Zimbabwe Plateau.

The Khoisan Hunter-gatherers

The Stone Age in Zimbabwe is associated with the culture of the Khoisan people. The Khoisan are
hunters and gatherers who began to practice pastoralism, agriculture and trade towards the end of the
Late Stone Age. We know a great deal about the Khoisan from rock art and archaeological evidence
found at various sites such as Ziwa in eastern Zimbabwe. We also know a great deal about the Khoisan
from ethnographic studies on their descendants who are still found in some parts of modern Botswana,
Namibia, Angola and Zimbabwe

The Khoisan can be divided into two distinct groups that are the San and the Khoi herders. The San were
Stone Age hunters, trackers and gatherers whose descendants are still found in the south west of
Zimbabwe and parts of the Sahara and Namib Desert areas.