South African Stamps_Heritage Sites Series: Mapungubwe Cultural Landscape

Mapungubwe – hill of the jackal

Stamp issue date: 23 September 2009
Artwork: Denis Murphy
Stamp size: 37.5 x 28.74 mm
Stamp sheet size: 211.5 x 81.5 mm
Paper: Tullis Russell yellow/green phosphor coated gum stamp paper
Gum: PVA tropical, tasteless water soluble gum
Quantity printed: 150 000 sheets
Colour: CMYK
Phosphor: 4 mm on top and right of stamp.
Printing process: Offset Lithography
Printed by: Southern Colour Print, New Zealand

Mapungubwe – hill of the jackal

Mapungubwe, which means ‘hill of the jackal’, is an ancient Iron Age archaeological site. Since its ‘discovery’ in the early 1930s, it has captured the imagination of researchers, writers and the public alike. In July 2003, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) declared the Mapungubwe Cultural Landscape South Africa’s fifth World Heritage site. In May 2004, the national park in which it is situated was renamed the Mapungubwe National Park. To highlight this valuable cultural legacy, a set of five stamps was issued on 23 September as part of the Post Office’s Heritage Sites series.

The Mapungubwe Cultural Landscape is situated in the Limpopo Province at the borders between South Africa, Zimbabwe and Botswana, close to the point where the Limpopo and Shashe Rivers meet.

A grave of unknown origin, containing some remarkable gold artefacts, was found on the summit of Mapungubwe Hill. Archaeologists have also found a great deal of valuable information from an Iron Age excavation site situated I km southwest of Mapungubwe Hill called K2. Objects from its large central refuse site, has shed some light on the history of the area.

Research indicates that about 1 000 years ago, Mapungubwe was the centre of the largest known kingdom in the African sub-continent. It appears to have been a thriving civilization and trading centre from around 1200 AD to 1300 AD.

The remains of this ancient society, now known as the Kingdom of Mapungubwe, lay dormant for centuries. In the early 1930s, a local resident discovered them and revealed their existence to the University of Pretoria.

Mapungubwe and K2 have since been declared a National Monument and the Mapungubwe Cultural Landscape has been declared a World Heritage Site. The cultural objects from these sites are maintained and displayed in the Mapungubwe Museum at the University of Pretoria. The collection of gold artefacts is the largest archaeological gold collection in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Research shows that the Iron Age sites at K2 and Mapungubwe were inhabited from about 900 AD to 1300 AD. Archaeologists believe that both sites were once capitals of African kingdoms, which traded with cultures as far away as East Africa, Persia, Egypt, India and China.

It is believed that a king and his soldiers lived near the top of Mapungubwe hill with other members of the community on the lower levels. The inhabitants of the neighbouring village, K2, seem to have been subsistence farmers, raising both stock and crops.

Objects found in the area are typical of the Iron Age. These include decorative and utility objects of iron, copper, wood and gold for local use, as well as for trade. Pottery objects made of fired clay were also found. Human figurines, usually with an elongated body and stumps for heads, arms and legs, were common at K2. They were often decorated with incisions or rows of dots. Ivory, bone, ostrich egg shells and the shells of snails and freshwater mussels found in the area were probably used to make jewellery.

Beads and bangles from graves on Mapungubwe Hill indicate that the inhabitants of Mapungubwe, probably senior members of the royal family, wore a variety of golden jewellery.

Thousands of glass beads have been found in the middens and graves at K2 and Mapungubwe. Beads were traded in large quantities through Swahili ports on the East coast of Africa. Trade beads were imported from foreign countries such as Egypt or India in exchange for ivory and gold.

The well-known gold rhinoceros, which has become a symbol for Mapungubwe, is among the cultural objects depicted on the stamps. Other objects shown on the stamps are a gold bowl, a gold scepter, spouted pots and a shallow terracotta bowl.

The gold objects from the Mapungubwe graves, such as the rhinoceros, sceptre and bowl, were carved from wood and covered in gold foil. A sheet of gold was folded around the wooden core and held in place with tacks. In some cases, the gold cover was decorated with punched indentations or carved lines.

Some of the artefacts, such as the sceptre and rhinoceros, were probably symbols associated with the king. When the king died, he was buried with these objects according to traditional custom.

Sources:
http://www.mapungubwe.com/cultural.htm
University of Pretoria: Mapungubwe Museum