Style, chronology and culture : a critical review of Whitty's stylistic classification of Zimbabwe culture using evidence from the Hwange district, Northwestern Zimbabwe

Abstract

Based largely on architectural style, the Zimbabwe Culture has conventionally been divided into three phases named after the major sites of Mapungubwe, Great Zimbabwe and Khami. Within and between the sites of this important southern African cultural phenomenon, the P, PQ, Q, and R stylistic classification originally defined by Anthony Whitty in the 1950s has continued to provide the basic descriptive and analytical framework. This has included continued acceptance and assumptions of the chronological as well as sociopolitical significance and implications associated with these wall styles as originally defined. Ongoing research in the Hwange district, has led to the documentation and assessment of dry stone-walled sites that architecturally and in several other respects, do not fit the traditional conventional frameworks. This is challenging the currently accepted definitions and characterisation of this important culture and its associated architecture. This paper discusses the variations in the architectural characteristics of the Hwange district dry stone-walled sites in the context of existing national and regional studies of this architectural heritage. Against this background, we question the continued use and application of outdated and uncritical characterisations of the Zimbabwe Culture architecture as currently presented in the southern African archaeological discourse.