Shona polities and early stone construction at Great Zimbabwe (1070s)

Timeline

1. 1071–1074Zimbabwe Plateau · ZimbabweShona chiefdoms based on farming and pastoral economies established markets and storage points along the Limpopo River, controlling the flow of inland gold and ivory to Indian Ocean ports through networks of vassals.
2. 1075–1078Great Zimbabwe hill site · ZimbabweCraftsmen expanded the hill palace-city and enclosures using dry-laid granite techniques, enlarging the scale of construction and showing that the central ruler could mobilize large corvée labor and monopolize religious-political ritual space.
3. 1079–1080Lower Limpopo River · Southeast AfricaInland rulers exchanged glass beads, cloth, and porcelain with Swahili coastal ports through middleman merchants in return for gold and ivory; trade revenues fed back into stone-built urban construction and elite consumption.