Great Zimbabwe

This book is more a study of the archaeological process than simply a history of this ancient city in what is now Mozambique. The text explores how racism wrote and rewrote history to suit the ruling race's views. For the simple fact that many did not want to recognize that blacks could have built and inhabited a sizable, accomplished trading center so long ago, many mythical theories were developed to explain it. These theories attributed the civilization to ancient Egyptians, shipwrecked Vikings, even to the Queen of Sheba and King Solomon. It wasn't until 1929 that it was decidedly proven that it could be attributed to Africans. The text then explores the process of radiocarbon dating and the manner in which artifacts are examined. Well-captioned full-color or black-and-white photos appear throughout.