Great Zimbabwe. An anthropological study
Cognitive interest of the authoress - in explaining 'Great Zimbabwe' - are two major topics: to test old and new (archaeological and historical) theories from an anthropological viewpoint, and to make 'women's history' visible: to show that women participated in, and determined cult and politics. Böhmer-Bauer bases her study on numerous objects from Zimbabwe, archaeological sources, Portuguese texts from the Plateau area beginning from the 16th century, early discovery- and excavation reports, and oral traditions on the Shona and neighboring groups mostly from the 19th-20th centuries. The authoress describes 'Great Zimbabwe' using archaeological evidence and by situating it historically. She describes subsequent empires (Khami culture, the Torwa state, Mutapa, etc.), and then concentrates on interpretations of 'Great Zimbabwe', from antiquity to the present - the latter including names like P. Schebesta, L. Frobenius, A.E. Jensen, H. Baumann, K. Mufuka, D.N. Beach, T.N. Huffman, G. Mahachi. Chapter VI theoretically and comparatively discusses selected objects and types of objects from Zimbabwe. The final chapter concentrates for the most part on the agency and roles of women among the different groups discussed.
Keywords: 'Great Zimbabwe', Zimbabwe and women's agency, agency of women, women in Zimbabwe, gender in Zimbabwe, archaeology and anthropology, history of Zimbabwe, politics in Zimbabwe
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