Kingdom of Mapungubwe - Burials at Mapungubwe Hill

Burials At Mapungubwe Hill

At least twenty four skeletons were unearthed on Mapungubwe hill but only eleven were available for analysis, with the rest disintegrating upon touch or as soon as they were exposed to light and air. Most of the skeletal remains were buried with few or no accessories with most adults buried with glass beads. Two adult burials (labeled numbers 10 and 14 by the early excavators) as well as one unlabeled skeleton (referred to as the original gold burial) were associated with gold artifacts and were unearthed from the so-called grave area upon Mapungubwe hill. The remains were all buried in the traditional Bantu burial position (sitting with legs drawn to the chest, arms folded round the front of the knees) and they were facing west. The Skeleton numbered 10, a male, was buried with his hand grasping the golden Scepter.

The skeleton labeled number 14 (female) was buried with at least 100 gold wire bangles around her ankles and there were at least one thousand gold beads in her grave. The last gold burial (male), who was most probably the King,was buried with a headrest and three objects made of gold foil tacked on to a wooden core-a bowl, scepter and rhino. At least two more rhino were in the sample, but their association with a specific grave is unknown.

In 2007, the South African Government gave the green light for the skeletal remains that were excavated back in 1933 to be reburied on Mapungubwe hill in a ceremony that took place on 20 November 2007. The remains were claimed by various groups, namely the Vhangona (the aboriginal Vhavenda), the Vhatwanamba, Vhaleya, the San as well as Vhalemba who all claimed to be the rightful descendents of the Mapungubwe people and hence claimed the right to bury their “ancestors” with dignity. It is interesting that the current dominant aristocrats/monarchs of Venda (the Singo dynasty) whom tradition, written and oral (which most importantly, the Lemba do not dispute) suggests they migrated into Venda (on both sides of the Limpopo river) accompanied by their Vhalemba vassals (and in the process, conquered and subjugated the Vhangona), distanced themselves from anything related to Mapungubwe and Mapungubwe reburials.

Peripherally, the principal eastern Venda King, i.e. Tshivhase's name is derived from the praise name celebrating barbaric acts of arson committed during the subjugaton of the Vhangona (he called himself, Tshivhasa midi ya vhathu, yawe i tshi sala yo tshena - i.e. He who reduced Ngona kraals to rubble through fire whilst his kraals remain untouched).

As such, it came to pass that none of the three Singo Kings (Ramabulana, Tshivhase and Mphaphuli) and their Chiefs (Rammbuda, Makuya, Nethengwe, Mutele, Mhinga, Tshikundu, Musekwa, Ramovha, Tshikundamalema, Mugivhi, etc.) despite them being overlords of present day Venda, took any part in the reburial ceremonies at Mapungubwe since they categorically claimed no association whatsoever with Mapungubwe! This is in stark contrast to 1996, when Chiefs Nethengwe and Mutele, among others, fully participated in the ceremonies related to the Thulamela kingdom, another "Mapungubwe like kingdom (but much later than Mapungubwe) that was "discovered" by park rangers in the northern parts of the Kruger National Park in 1993 (once again, it needs to be mentioned that descendants of the Thulamela occupants, mostly the Vhanyai always knew about Thulamela and did not need to "discover" it). This unwillingness by the current (Singo dynasty) overlords of Venda from laying any claim or association with Mapungubwe probably explains why none of their key informants had any idea what and where Mapungubwe was when Prof. Lestrade inquired back in 1933!

Indeed, conqurers they may have been these Singo, but they certainly had enough integrity not to make unfounded claims.

Traditional funeral rituals for members of the royal court were reburied at night by the Mapungubwe after other culutral groups had an opportunity to perform their own relevant rituals (according to their traditions) associated with the burial of a royal. Interestingly, it was only the Vhangona who performed the necessary ceremonies that included among others (a) the rare "Tshikona Tsha Tshikumo" (Tshikumo is the solemn Tshikona which is performed to herald the passing of a King/Chief; and unlike the regular Tshikona dance, where participants go through choreographed moves while blowing their flutes, the Tshikumo is performed while the participants are sitting down), (b) "u phasa" (offering libation) and (c) the throwing of "Thangu" (divination bones) to obtain the necessary permission as well as appeasing the spirits. The Vhatwanamba and Vhaleya representatives neither performed any burial rituals for their departed ancestors nor provided their traditional doctor while the Vhalemba traditional doctor who was present, one Mrs. Masindi Mulovhedzi, not only claimed to have forgotten her divining bones at home, and could therefore not conduct the necessary Lemba burial rituals befitting the occasion, but also refused the offer to use the divining bones provided by the Vhangona traditional doctors present at the ceremony (Messers. Mashudu Dima and the late Tuwani Nemungadi) on account of claiming to be inebriated, as well as refusing point blank to ascend the hill when it was time for the reburial ceremony!! Moreover, she also admonished her fellow Vhalemba at the ceremony about the dangers of dabbling in practices "foreign" to the Lemba culture and told them the Mapungubwe hill has always been known as a no go area specifically for the Vhalemba (and in the process, dissuaded some among them from ascending the hill for the reburial ceremony)! Who would have thought that more than a thousand years later, the Mapungubwe hill is still as sacred and feared!!

The Mapungubwe Landscape was declared a World Heritage Site on 3 July 2003. It is also part of the 'Vhembe Biosphere Reserve', named a biosphere reserve by UNESCO since 2009. The reserve includes also the Blouberg Range, the Kruger National Park, the Makgabeng Plateau, the Makuleke Wetlands and the Soutpansberg.