Nyanga terraces and pit structures
Terrazas agrícolas y fosos de Nyanga
- Date
- c. 1500 · confidence medium
- Place
- Nyanga Mountains, Manicaland, Zimbabwe
- Credited to
- Farmers of the eastern highlands
- Field
- Life & health
What it is
Thousands of kilometres of dry-stone terraces and lined pits for penning small livestock, whose manure fertilised the fields. It is one of the largest prehistoric agricultural landscapes in Africa.
Studied by Robert Soper (2002). The pits were mistakenly interpreted as mines or forts.
What it led to
- hillside farming on poor soils
- the integration of livestock and manure
- dense occupation of the highlands