(5) No evidence of either ancient or native industries having been carried on in these ruins.
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.