SECTION A OF POSSELT RUINS
Main walls.—The main walls average from 7 ft. to 12 ft. in height above the surface of the veld, while the height of the interior faces, which are some 3 ft. above the outside level, averages 6 ft. to 9 ft. The great amount of wall débris at the foot of the walls suggests an original average height of at least 15 ft. above the cement floors. Some practical builders have computed it to have been almost 20 ft., and the batter-back would permit of this. The average of 15 ft. is a very conservative estimate of the original height. There is more dilapidation on the outside top edges of the walls than on the inside. The width of the main walls at base averages 6 ft., and on the reduced summit at 9 ft. above the outer surface of the ground 4 ft. Some of the divisional walls are almost equally as massive. As is usual in the rounded style of building, the main walls, also the foundations, widen out as they near an entrance. The curves of the walls are most symmetrical, especially of the wall which curves outwards from the north to the east-south-east. Two granite beams—one 6 ft. 3 in. high—once stood erect on the north-east portion of the main wall. A flat granite slab still stands erect on the west wall. Other long granite beams were found at the foot of the wall both outside and inside. The foundations of the main walls are carried under the entrances and form their floors.
Sketch Plan
POSSELT RUINS
“Valley of Ruins”
(Lower Section)
Construction.—The construction of the main walls and also of some of the divisional walls is good, though there are places where a rather inferior workmanship can be noticed. On the whole, the courses are regular, straight joints are infrequent, and the sizes of the blocks of each course show they were carefully selected. There are a few short lengths of walls in the interior which do not appear to have been parts of the original building. These are erected upon the black vegetable mould, and are poorly constructed, are slight and of indifferent material, being almost identical, if not quite so, with old Makalanga walls, the noticeable feature of which is the building of one stone exactly above and squarely on the block below without any pretence at bonding. This is known as the column style, and can be seen in walls in native villages as well as within certain ruins at Zimbabwe, mainly on the Acropolis, where, as in these ruins, there are the remains of very old Makalanga cement huts.
Entrances.—There are four rounded entrances through the main wall; possibly there was a fifth on the east side where there is a wide gap. There are twelve entrances in divisional walls, nine of which are rounded, two being partly angular and partly rounded, and one angular, this last being before referred to as probably of later construction. It is almost certain that many more divisional entrances will yet be discovered, as several of the divisional walls only just outcrop above the surface of the interior. Almost every entrance has portcullis grooves. All four of the entrances through the main wall have rounded buttresses on either side projecting into the interior of the building. Three of the more important divisional entrances also have rounded buttresses on each side of the entrance.
The E.N.E. entrance was evidently the main entrance. Its walls are very massive, and the arrangement of the inner walls strongly suggests the intention to protect the entrance and afford a second line of defence. This entrance generally is the most imposing of all four approaches. It opens directly on to the exterior of the building, which the west entrance does not; nor most probably did the S.E. entrance, which opens out towards other ruins. The E.N.E. entrance varies in width from 2 ft. 10 in. to 4 ft., and the passage is 12 ft. long. The side walls are 5 ft. high, but rise sharply towards the exterior to 8 ft. and 11 ft. respectively, and both are about 6 ft. wide on floor level. As in the entrances through the main wall of the Elliptical Temple, the foundations run under the entrance and form its passage floor. The entrance has two buttresses on the inner side, and these have portcullis grooves.
The west entrance opens in Section B of the Posselt Ruins. This is 1 ft. 10 in. wide, 7 ft. long, and the side walls are 7 ft. high above the floor and 6 ft. wide on the floor level. The entrance shows remains of portcullis grooves. The floor of the entrance is 2 ft. above the cement floor of the interior of the building, and there are the remains of large rounded cement steps down on to the floor. On the inner side is the Parallel Passage, described later, and as in this passage are a quantity of buttresses, these show that the entrance was well protected from attack from the side of Section B, especially on the north outer side of the entrance, where is what visitors have called a “sentry-box,” a small walled-in area immediately adjoining and opening directly upon the entrance into Section A. The elaborate protection of this entrance from attacks from Section B would appear to show that Section A was regarded by the builders as the more important portion of these buildings.
The south-east entrance opens out on to the veld, but there are extensive ruins, portion of the middle section of “The Valley of Ruins,” at a few yards’ distance in front of it with traces of walls between. This entrance is 2 ft. 4 in. wide between the buttresses, and 3 ft. wide between the sides of the main wall. It is 11 ft. long, and the side walls are 7 ft. high on either side, rising rapidly on the east side to 10 ft. There is a pair of rounded buttresses 5 ft. high on the inner side, and these have portcullis grooves. It is probable that this was the entrance used by the ancient occupiers on ascending from these ruins to the Elliptical Temple, as the north-eastern extremity of the North-East Passage is not many yards away from this entrance.
An entrance through a divisional wall just within and on the west side of the E.N.E. entrance is worthy of notice. This passes through a wall 6 ft. wide on floor level, and 7 ft. high on the south-west side and 6 ft. high on the north-east side. In this entrance, which has rounded buttresses on the inner side, a length of unworked soapstone beam was found acting as a side lintel in a portcullis groove, also the fragments of a corresponding soapstone lintel. In this entrance was discovered (March, 1903) beaten gold and fragments of decorated soapstone bowls.
Parallel Passage.—This is the sixth parallel passage so far discovered at Zimbabwe, and is about the fifth in importance. It runs for 66 ft. on the inside of, and parallel to, the west main wall. The inner or east wall of the passage is formed by a line of buttresses with short walls between each, and in these walls are various entrances leading towards the interior of the building. No portion of this inner wall is more than 5 ft. in height, though the wall débris along their summits rises 2 ft. higher. The passage is defended by several pairs of rounded buttresses with portcullis grooves, and averages in width from 5 ft. to 8 ft.
The passage commences on the south side of the west entrance which leads from Section B of these ruins. Two large rounded buttresses form its southern extremity. The buttress on the west side, which is 5 ft. high, projects 5 ft. into the walled-in area opposite to the inside of the west entrance, and the eastern buttress, which is 4 ft. high, projects 3 ft. to meet it, leaving the entrance between them 3 ft. wide. There are no portcullis grooves, but it is probable, judging by the position of the débris, that a pair of rounded buttresses once stood on either side of the entrance. Portcullis grooves are most usually found in such additional buttresses. In this walled-in area, facing the inside of the west entrance, is a passage-way leading into the interior of the building, but this still remains unexplored.
Going north from this point, the Parallel Passage is narrowed to 4 ft. by a rounded buttress 5 ft. high projecting from the inner or eastern side of the passage. From this buttress a wall 5 ft. high runs north-east and parallel to the inside of main wall for 13 ft., the passage along this length being about 4 ft. 6 in. wide. At the northern end of this length of wall are a pair of rounded buttresses 4 ft. 6 in. high with portcullis grooves. The entrance between the two is 1 ft. 10 in. wide, and these are built upon the same foundation which forms the floor of the entrance. At 16 ft. further north is another pair projecting from either side into the passage. The one on the west side is 5 ft. high, is rounded, and has a portcullis groove. The opposite is 3 ft. high and greatly dilapidated. It is angular on one side and rounded on the other, and there are traces only of a portcullis groove. The quality of the construction differs, the rounded buttress being the better built. Possibly the other buttress is a reconstruction of a much later date. The entrance between the buttresses is 2 ft. 6 in. wide. Both buttresses are erected on the same foundation which forms the floor of the entrance.
Between the last-described two pairs of buttresses and on the east side is a roughly built entrance 1 ft. 10 in. wide, with the two buttresses angular on the outside and rounded on the inside. This leads into the interior of the building. At the northern end of the passage and on the east side and leading into the interior is an entrance with portcullis grooves built upon a curved line. The west corners, which are 3 ft. 6 in. high, are angular, but the inside walls are rounded. This is altogether better built and more substantial than the entrance previously described. The northern extremity of the passage is abrupt on its eastern side, which faces the south end of the gap in the main west wall, and the presumption is that the passage was originally continued further north, but that when the main wall fell the eastern side of the passage was also destroyed.
In places the floor of the passage shows by the wall of a large semi-circular buttress which projects 11 ft. from the inner face of the main wall. All the walls surrounding the area are very well built. The south side is formed by an opening 2 ft. 4 in. wide between the semi-circular buttress and the west side of the conical tower, by the conical tower, by an opening 2 ft. wide between the east side of the tower and a rounded buttress 4 ft. high, which projects 3 ft. 6 in. from the wall forming the east side of the enclosure. The floor, which is made of granite cement, is 1 ft. above the floor on the south, and is approached by a rounded step.
Conical Tower.—This tower and the Conical Tower in the adjoining Philips Ruins are almost identical in construction and position. It has a circumference at 14 in. above its foundation of 17 ft. 6 in., and at 3 ft. 6 in. above this level the circumference is 15 ft. 6 in. It is impossible to measure its circumference at base owing to the cement floor enclosing its north and north-east sides. It is 5 ft. 8 in. high from base on the north side and 4 ft. on the south side. The filling-in process of very late occupiers has caused its dilapidation. The tower has been proved to be solid.
Semi-circular Buttress.—A large remains of pavement, portions being cemented and portions paved with blocks. A large rounded granite cement step crosses the northern end of the passage.
Dadoes.—In the passage and on the lower inside face of the main wall are several lengths of granite cement dadoes, the longest being 10 ft. and 12 ft. The dadoes are still 2 ft. to 3 ft. high, and about 3 in. to 5 in. thick.
Enclosures.—It is probable, judging by the number of sections of divisional walls outcropping above the surface of the interior, that there are some eight or ten distinct enclosures within Section A of these ruins. Some enclosures have several entrances, all so far discovered being rounded. The divisional walls of most of the enclosures are massive and well built, some being far superior in construction and material to several of the divisional walls in the Elliptical Temple.
The most perfect enclosure is on the inner side of the north-east, immediately west of the E.N.E entrance. This was entirely filled in with soil and blocks up to the tops of the walls, which are 7 ft. and 8 ft. high. All this filling-in has now been removed (March, 1903), and a conical tower, which had been completely buried, was discovered. The area is formed on the north-east side by the inner face of the main wall, which is 7 ft. high and 11 ft. long, on the east side by a wall 7 ft. high and 9 ft. long, and on the west side it averages from 2 in. to 4 in. in thickness. Its faces are usually smoothed and the tops are rounded off inwards.
Native huts.—There are the remains of seven old native huts in this section of the ruins. These are identical with No. 3 huts described in “Makalanga huts within ancient ruins,” see “Notes on Architecture.” They are built about 2 ft. and 3 ft. above the ancient cement floors. Two are built across gaps in divisional walls, and one partially covers a portion of the gap in the north-west main wall, which, had it been intact, would not have enabled the builders of the hut to find room for the erection of their dwelling.