It covers an area of approximately 16,500 km, which is inhabited by Bakalanga and other ethnic groups. The predominant people found in this area, the Bakalanga, are a complex ethnic group, comprising many different cultural groups whose heritage spans the last 12,000 years of unprecedented continuity. The trail is made up of about 30 sites selected from over 500 heritage sites found in this region. Part Two is a continuation from last week's Part One, which covered Stone Age Heritage Sites and Early Farmers Heritage.
The establishment of heritage sites associated with the Great Zimbabwe state found in the Bukalanga region was influenced by climatic desiccation that occurred in the Shashe Limpopo Valley around AD 1250 (Huffman 1996).Trade in commodities such as gold and ivory which initially took place in this valley during the Leopard Kopje Chiefdom shifted to a newly established centre at Great Zimbabwe near Masvingo. Great Zimbabwe, which was established through sacred leadership developed at Mapungubgwe in the Limpopo Valley, gained more power and influence in the region and ultimately to the demise of the Leopards Kopje chiefdom. Heritage sites associated with the Zimbabwe state are characterised by dry stonewall architecture on hilltops and valleys (Van Waarden 1998).
