Mapungubwe, Great Zimbabwe and the South East African Textile Tradition

During the mid 13th century, the earliest “complex” stratified culture appeared in southern Africa. In the Limpopo valley of what is now South Africa and Zimbabwe. Agro-pastoral eastern Bantu peoples created a string of settlements starting as early as the 4th century C.E. The increase in east African/Indian ocean trade in the 10th century contributed to a build-up of wealth. This is believed to have driven the development of the Mapungubwe/great Zimbabwe cultural complex. Elaborate dry stone architecture is one of the hallmarks of the various kingdoms associated with this civilization. Early sites are also known for elaborate pottery, and from at least the 10th century, the ancestors of the Mapungubwe peoples were refashioning and exporting imported glass beads. Sites associated with this culture also contain ceramic spindle whorls. This is the earliest evidence of cotton spinning and thus spun textile production in southern Africa, part of understudied, but once-vibrant tradition.
It is suggested that weaving and cotton cultivation/spread into southeastern Africa from the Swahili coast. The single heddled ground loom used across the Zambezi and Limpopo river valley is often cited as having diffused into the region after being adapted from looms used by Bedouin women from the Middle east. However, it should be noted that wild cotton is common across this region. The earliest documented use of the single heddle ground loom is found in ancient Egypt around 5000 YBP, and the domestication of Cotton in Nubia may date back even further. Furthermore, although comparatively rare in Subsaharan Africa, single heddle ground looms are widely distributed across the continent. Although spindle whorls are telltale signs of textile production, they are not always made of stone, pottery, or other non-organic materials. Wooden spindle whorls are commonly used in many regions of Africa, including the Limpopo and Zambezi valleys. Whorls made of this and other biodegradable materials make it difficult to track the exact date of spun yarn production in tropical climates.
Barwe Weaver at loom in Zimbabwe
Although there are no surviving examples of textiles from Mapungubwe or Great Zimbabwe, textiles found at a 16th century Ingombe Ilede site give us insight into how these textiles may have looked. Ingombe Ilede is believed to have been a part of a small chiefdom active in trade connecting Great zimbabwe, the Swahili coast (perhaps Portuguese), and the Indian Ocean trade. In addition to locally made coarse handspun cotton textiles, the site also contains cloth made of finely spun cotton most likely imported from India. Although not as prominent or as productive as the west and west-central African textile traditions, handwoven cloth was once an essential commodity in southeastern Africa. Weaving was once a common craft in villages from southern Tanzania into the northeastern corner of South Africa. Cloth woven on simple single heddle ground looms were essential signifiers of wealth and important trade items. They were even used to pay soldiers in the later periods of Great Zimbabwe’s history. They played key roles in mortuary rites and were treated as heirlooms among the Shona-speaking people of the Mapungubwe/zimbabwe cultural complex as well as the Angoni, Chibemba, Nyakyusa, Venda, and other peoples across the Limpopo and Zambezi regions of Mozambique, Zambia. South Africa, Malawi, and Zimbabwe. The cloth pictured below was made by a Nyakyusa weaver in Malawi. It exemplifies the simple yet elegant construction of textiles endemic to the region. The balanced plain weave allows a beautifully articulated plaid pattern to emerge from alternating brown-black and beige cotton warps and wefts. The cloth is a bit narrower on one end, a feature that is not uncommon with these cloths. This cloth and other plain, plaid, and warp striped cloths were most likely used as wrappers. However, similar cloth was used as chair slings, hammocks, blankets, and cloaks. Although most of these textiles were simply patterned using warp stripes or plaid patterns, weavers also used weft float patterns in some instances. Elaborately brocaded, laboriously woven belts taking as long as nine months to make were once a testament to the skill and patience of these weavers.
Cloth From Malawi
Close Up
Sources: Patricia Davison & Patrick Harries (1980) Cotton Weaving in South-East Africa: Its History and Technology, Textile History, 11:1, 175-192, DOI: 10.1179/004049680793691167 Huffman, Thomas N.. “MAPUNGUBWE AND THE ORIGINS OF THE ZIMBABWE CULTURE.” (2000).