The Soapstone Birds of Great Zimbabwe : Archaeological Heritage

262 Pages·2011·20.74 MB·English

by  Edward Matenga

STUDIES
 IN
 GLOBAL
 ARCHAEOLOGY
 16

1

THE
 SOAPSTONE
 BIRDS
 OF
 GREAT
 ZIMBABWE

ARCHAEOLOGICAL
 HERITAGE,
 RELIGION
 AND
 POLITICS

IN
 POSTCOLONIAL
 ZIMBABWE

AND
 THE
 RETURN
 OF
 CULTURAL
 PROPERTY

EDWARD
 MATENGA

Department
 of
 Archaeology
 and
 Ancient
 History

Uppsala
 University

2011
Dissertation
 presented
 at
 Uppsala
 University
 to
 be
 publicly
 examined
 in
 Room
 6/k1031,

English
 Park
 Campus,
 Thunbergsvägen,
 Uppsala,
 Friday,
 December
 2,
 2011
 at
 10:00
 for
 the

degree
 of
 Doctor
 of
 Philosophy.
 The
 examination
 will
 be
 conducted
 in
 English.

ABSTRACT

Matenga,
 E.
 2011.
 The
 Soapstone
 Birds
 of
 Great
 Zimbabwe.
 Archaeological
 Heritage,
 Religion

and
 Politics
 in
 Postcolonial
 Zimbabwe
 and
 the
 Return
 of
 Cultural
 Property.
 Institutionen
 för

arkeologi
 och
 antik
 historia.
 Studies
 in
 Global
 Archaeology
 16.
 258
 pp.
 Uppsala.
 ISBN
 978-­‐91-­‐
506-­‐2240-­‐9.

At
 least
 eight
 soapstone
 carvings
 of
 birds
 furnished
 a
 shrine,
 Great
 Zimbabwe,
 in
 the
 19th

century.
 This
 large
 stonewalled
 settlement,
 once
 a
 political
 and
 urban
 centre,
 had
 been
 much

reduced
 for
 four
 centuries,
 although
 the
 shrine
 continued
 to
 operate
 as
 local
 traditions
 dic-­‐
tated.
 The
 Zimbabwe
 Birds
 were
 handed
 down
 from
 a
 past
 that
 has
 only
 been
 partially
 il-­‐
luminated
 by
 archaeological
 inquiry
 and
 ethnography,
 as
 has
 the
 site
 as
 such.
 This
 thesis

publishes
 the
 first
 detailed
 catalogue
 of
 the
 Birds
 and
 attempts
 to
 reconstruct
 their
 proven-­‐
ance
 at
 the
 site
 based
 on
 the
 earliest
 written
 accounts.

A
 modern
 history
 of
 the
 Birds
 unfolds
 when
 the
 European
 settlers
 removed
 them
 from

the
 site
 in
 dubious
 transactions,
 claiming
 them
 as
 rewards
 of
 imperial
 conquest.
 As
 the
 most

treasured
 objects
 from
 Great
 Zimbabwe,
 the
 fate
 of
 the
 Birds
 has
 been
 intertwined
 with
 that

of
 the
 site
 in
 a
 matrix
 of
 contested
 meanings
 and
 ownership.
 This
 thesis
 explores
 how
 the

meanings
 of
 cultural
 objects
 have
 a
 tendency
 to
 shift
 and
 to
 be
 ephemeral,
 demonstrating
 the

ability
 of
 those
 in
 power
 to
 appropriate
 and
 determine
 such
 meanings.
 In
 turn,
 this
 has
 a

bearing
 on
 ownership
 claims,
 and
 gives
 rise
 to
 an
 “authorized
 heritage
 discourse”
 syndrome.

  The
 forced
 migrations
 of
 the
 Zimbabwe
 Birds
 within
 the
 African
 continent
 and
 to
 Europe

and
 their
 subsequent
 return
 to
 their
 homeland
 decades
 later
 are
 characterised
 by
 melodra-­‐
matic
 episodes
 of
 manoeuvring
 by
 traders,
 politicians
 and
 theologians,
 and
 of
 the
 return
 of

stolen
 property
 cloaked
 as
 an
 amicable
 barter
 deal,
 or
 a
 return
 extolled
 as
 an
 act
 of
 gener-­‐
osity.
 International
 doctrines
 that
 urge
 the
 return
 of
 cultural
 property
 are
 influenced
 by

Western
 hegemonic
 ideologies.
 Natural
 justice
 is
 perverted,
 as
 stolen
 property
 acquires
 a

(superior)
 significance
 in
 its
 new
 context,
 which
 merits
 the
 extinction
 of
 the
 original
 proven-­‐
ance.
 This
 leaves
 “generosity”
 and
 goodwill
 as
 the
 promises
 of
 the
 future,
 holding
 the
 fate
 of

one
 Zimbabwe
 Bird
 still
 kept
 in
 exile
 in
 South
 Africa.

Keywords:
 soapstone
 Birds,
 Great
 Zimbabwe,
 archaeological
 heritage,
 cultural
 property,
 re-­‐
turn
 of
 cultural
 property,
 cultural
 symbols,
 cultural
 rights,
 postcolonial
 theory,
 western

hegemonic
 discourse,
 authorized
 heritage
 discourse
 (AHD),
 nationalism,
 fait
 accompli,
 natural

justice,
 collecting,
 materiality
 theory.

Edward
 Matenga,
 Department
 of
 Archaeology
 and
 Ancient
 History,
 Uppsala
 University,
 Box
 626,

SE-­751
 26
 Uppsala,
 Sweden.

©
 Edward
 Matenga
 2011

Studies
 in
 Global
 Archaeology
 16

ISSN
 1651-­‐1255

ISBN
 978-­‐91-­‐506-­‐2240-­‐9

urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-­‐160193
 (http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-­‐160193)

Cover
 illustration:
 Zimbabwe
 Bird
 1
 (from
 which
 the
 national
 emblems
 are
 derived)
 standing
 in

front
 of
 the
 Conical
 Tower,
 Great
 Enclosure,
 Great
 Zimbabwe.
 Photo:
 D.
 Allen
 Photography
 and

NMMZ.

Insert:
 photographs
 and
 illustrations
 by
 Edward
 Matenga
 unless
 otherwise
 stated.

Published
 and
 distributed
 by:
 Department
 of
 Archaeology
 and
 Ancient
 History,
 Uppsala
 University.

Printed
 in
 Sweden
 by
 Edita
 Västra
 Aros,
 Västerås
 2011
This
 work
 is
 dedicated
 to
 all
 the
 people
 who
 helped
 me
 to
 prepare
 it

Maita
 Shava
 Museyamwa,
 Mhofu
 Yomukono

Ziwewera,
 zienda
 netyaka,
 Mutunhu
 unemago!

VokwaNyashanu,
 Vakapiwa
 vakadzi
 munyika
 yevaNjanja

Hekani!
 Mhofu
 Yomukono,
 vari
 VuHera
 (Buhera),
 Mukonde.

Vokwasadza
 dete,
 Gobvu
 rinodzipa
 vana.

–
 Clan
 praise
 poem,
 offering
 to
 the
 ancestors;

totem:
 Mhofu-­‐
 Eland.

CONTENTS

ABBREVIATIONS

  15

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  17

1.

 INTRODUCTION

  21

Background

  21

Structure
 of
 the
 thesis

  24

  Creating
 an
 inventory
 of
 the
 Zimbabwe
 Birds

  25

  Interpreting
 the
 meaning
 and
 significance
 of
 the
 Zimbabwe
 Birds

  27

  The
 changing
 meaning
 of
 cultural
 symbols

  28

  International
 return
 of
 cultural
 property

  30

Theoretical
 Framework

  31

  Colonialism
 and
 the
 postcolonial
 heritage
 discourse

  31

  Nationalist
 ideologies
 and
 the
 heritage
 discourse

  33

  Archaeology,
 heritage
 and
 materiality

  35

  Heritage
 in
 a
 globalizing
 world:
 Who
 owns
 the
 past?

  36

  The
 concept
 of
 world
 heritage,
 universal
 museums
 and
 return
 of

cultural
 property

  37

  Conclusions

  38

Research
 Processes
 and
 Methods

  38

Literature
 Study

  38

Documentation
 and
 description
 of
 the
 Zimbabwe

  39

Fieldwork
 Research:
 Oral
 interviews

  40

2.

 THE
 RISE
 OF
 EUROPEAN
 COLLECTING
 AND
 THE
 FINDING

AND
 EXPORT
 OF
 ZIMBABWE
 BIRDS

  43

SECTION
 I:
 THE
 RISE
 OF
 COLLECTING

  43

Collecting
 in
 the
 Ancient
 World

  44

The
 birth
 of
 modern
 “European
 collecting
 tradition”

  45
The
 rise
 of
 museums

  48
European
 imperialism
 and
 the
 scramble
 for
 African
 cultural
 treasures

  50

Case
 studies

  50

West
 Africa

  50

French
 imperial
 collecting
 in
 Mali

  50

British
 expedition
 against
 the
 Ashanti
 Kingdom
 (1874)

  51

The
 sack
 of
 the
 Benin
 palace,
 Nigeria,
 1897

  51

Ile-­‐Ife,
 Nigeria

  52

Central
 Africa

  53

Swedish
 collecting
 in
 the
 Congo
 Free
 State

  53

King
 Leopold
 and
 the
 Congo
 Free
 State

  54
Northeast
 Africa

  54
The
 granite
 stele
 of
 Aksum,
 Ethiopia

  54
Conclusions

  55

SECTION
 II:
 TREASURE
 SEEKERS
 AND
 COLLECTING
 ON
 THE
 ZIMBABWE

PLATEAU

  56

  Southern
 Africa
 and
 its
 connections
 with
 the
 outside
 world

  57

  Consumption
 of
 cultural
 goods
 during
 the
 Great
 Zimbabwe
 period

  1250–1450
 AD

  57

  The
 16th
 century:
 Enter
 the
 Portuguese

  58

  Nguni
 Migrations,
 fall
 of
 the
 Shona
 State
 and
 European
 incursions
 from

  South
 Africa

  59

  The
 first
 European
 collectors

  60

  First
 collecting
 explorations
 at
 and
 around
 Great
 Zimbabwe
 –
 Carl
 Mauch
 61

  Diary
 entry
 1

  63

  Diary
 entry
 2

  64

  Diary
 entry
 3

  64

  Diary
 entry
 4

  64

  Diary
 entry
 5

  65

  Diary
 entry
 6

  66

  Diary
 entry
 7

  66

  Diary
 entry
 8

  67

  Diary
 entry
 9

  67

Adam
 Render’s
 trading
 post
 at
 Great
 Zimbabwe

  68
George
 Philips,
 elephant
 hunter
 and
 trader

  68

  Frederick
 Selous

  68

Removal
 and
 export
 of
 the
 soapstone
 Birds
 to
 South
 Africa

  70
Acquisitions
 of
 the
 South
 African
 Museum
 in
 Cape
 Town

  73
Exportations
 from
 Great
 Zimbabwe
 to
 Europe

  74
Collections
 from
 other
 sites
 in
 Zimbabwe

  76
Conclusions

  77