Sheep magazine Archive 2: issues 10-17

Reconstruction attempts by Zimbabwe nationalists since 1980 have
caused further damage – as have some of the roughly 20,000 tourists
who visit the site every year, climbing the walls for thrills and to find
souvenirs.
Political and ideological battles have also been fought over the ruins. In
1890, the British mining magnate and coloniser Cecil Rhodes financed
archeologist James Theodore Bent, who was sent to South Rhodesia by
the British Association of Science with instructions to “prove” the Great
Zimbabwe civilisation was not built by local Africans.
16
The government of Ian Smith, prime minister of Southern Rhodesia
(modern Zimbabwe) until 1979, continued the colonial falsification of the
city’s origins in official guide books, which showed images of Africans
bowing down to the foreigners who had allegedly built Great Zimbabwe.
In 1980, Robert Mugabe became prime minister, and the country was
renamed “Zimbabwe”, in honour of the Great Zimbabwe civilisation,
and its famous soapstone bird carvings were depicted in the new
Zimbabwean flag.
Yet much is still to be known about the ancient capital city. With no
primary written documents discovered there or elsewhere, Great
Zimbabwe’s history is derived from archaeological evidence found on the
site, plus the oral history of the local Shona-speaking people, particularly
regarding spiritual beliefs and building traditions.
Designated a Unesco World Heritage Site in 1986, the preservation of
Great Zimbabwe – led by the National Museums and Monuments of
SHEEP IN THE ROAD : NUMBER 15