Great Zimbabwe, Mashonaland, Rhodesia / An account of two years' examination work in 1902-4 on behalf of the government of Rhodesia

by R. N. Hall

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.