Magure Zimbabwe Site, Distrito de Barue, Província de Manica Moçambique
This site was first identified by H.A Wieschhoff in his book, The Zimbabwe-Monomotapa in South-East Africa, George Banta Publishing Company, Menasha Wisconsin, USA, 1941. Wieschhoff spent a considerable time examining both Zimbabwe and Nyanga Sites in the Nyanga District of Zimbabwe and the Barue District of Moçambique. Most of his time in Moçambique was sped at the Niamara Site high up on Serra Mulanda about 16 km north west of Magure. (But see below) He spent only 5 days at Magure mapping the site and making two test trenches. His account of Magure is reproduced below as well as an amended map with comments as the result of a recent site visit made on Saturday the 10th of March which is also reproduced below.The access too the site is on a small dirt road leading off the main Vanduzi Tete road to the left (West) some 10 km south of Catandica and just north of the Aldeia 3 de Fevereiro. The turn off is signposted «Património Cultural Amuralhado de Magure» The road continues westwards for about 12 km passing though a small trading centre and School, through a farm and then crossing a couple of fast flowing streams, now bridged, thence through several small villages and machambas to a hill just to the east of the Nhacangara River. The UTM Grid reference for the site is 36K 513322E 7993312S and the altitude is 830 m.
Wieschhoff wrote in 1941:
“Investigations among the Barwe of this region led
to a short examination of another ruin some eight miles southeast of Niamara.
These ruins do not lie on top of a high mountain, as does Niamara, but on a
rising ground almost in the plains of Mozambique. The natives refer to the
little creek in its neighbourhood as Magure, and since there was no other
landmark with a native name in the vicinity, this was selected as the name for
the site. These ruins must be the most easterly in this section of the country.
After I left the Niamara ruins to go to Inyanga, I took part of my group to
this site for five days' work. Like Niamara, its existence had never been
reported, and it was an absolutely untouched site, but since our time was limited we had to confine
ourselves to the mapping of the ruins and to the sinking of a few test trenches
(Fig. 28 adapted in plan below).
The difference between the highest and lowest parts
of the walls, which follow the contours of the little hill, was nowhere greater
than 7.00 m. As at Niamara, the walls consisted of long narrow slabs of
"Rhodesia schist" and were in a good state of preservation with very
little debris following their courses. They are on the aver-age between 1.20
and 2.00 m high and uniformly 0.80 m thick. The whole ruin is surrounded by a
circuit wall, forming an oval, which measures 75 m in its longest extent. A
wall, some 50 m in length, bisects the ruins into two parts of almost equal
size. The north western section only had an entrance. The natural unevenness of
this section had been utilized for the creation of two higher platforms, C and
D, and a lower one B.
The highest elevation within the site is the
enclosure G, rectangular in shape and built directly upon the natural boulders
which project above the soil. The gaps between the boulders, as well as the
areas in front of the entrance to this enclosure, were covered with red daga.
The size of the chamber as well as the unprepared floor make it seem unlikely
that this red daga represents the remains of a daga house, although I am
inclined to think that this enclosure served as a platform for granaries,
perhaps similar to the kind found in the ruins of Farm Linder (p. 77).
Two test trenches, both 1.00 m wide and 12 and 38 m
long respectively, were cut through enclosure A. The first trench was intended
to determine the structure of the daga foundations, three of which could be
seen. All of these foundations resembled the daga house of enclosure E at
Niamara; that is, they were divided into three parts by walls which obviously
had been built of wooden poles. The average diameter of these three daga
foundations was approximately 6.00 m. unfortunately the first trench yielded
nothing except a few sherds and iron arrow points, nor did the additional
trench, which was dug parallel to the first in front of one of the foundations,
alter the picture. Thus, no objects of any importance were unearthed and the
determination of the architectural features remained the only result of this
visit.
There are altogether eight hut foundations at
Magure: five in enclosure A, one in D, and two smaller ones, only about 4 m in
diameter, in C. The foundations examined were discovered resting directly upon
the stratum of residual soil.
Comparing the type of stone masonry as well as the
hut foundations of Magure with those of Niamara, it becomes likely that both
belong to the same period. It is interesting to note that this type of ruin is
found not only on top of high mountains but in valleys as well.”
The walling is well preserved and the site does not appear to have deteriorated since Wieschhoff visited the site in the 1920s and Roza de Oliveira in the 1960s. Wieschhoff mentions a covering of dhaga on one the walls but we did not notice this on our visit.
Wieschhoff's Plan Adapted |
closures A and B are the outer one and D,E,F and G are the inner enclosures. These enclosures adjoin the WNW sideof the hill of the hill, which drops sharply some 6m with some small rock overhangs below, perhaps too small to have given any protection from the weather.
Entrance to inner enclosures |
To the right of this and abutting the boulders was what appear to be a semi-circular platform about 1,5m in height It was not part of the general walling and must have had some other function.
What is it? By stretching the imagination it could be a small conical tower but I think if was a platform linked to the entrance of the inner enclosure. It is shown in the photo below
1 The Platform |
The standard of the walling is very high, and consists of schist rather than granite, the local rocks. To me appears far more like Zimbabwe tradition type walling than the walling from the Nyanga Terracing culture, which commences some 20 km to the west near the Zimbabwe Border.
There are now no local traditions concerning the site and who built it. In the 1920s a member of the Barue Royal family accompanied Wieschhoff's to Niamara and Magure and he linked the Niamara site to Changamire, Wieschhoff's also thought that the two sites were linked. He said that they were some 8 miles apart that is 13 km. Using the grid references for the two sites they only appear to be 4 km - as the crow flies - apart. Niamara being NNW of Magure on the western side of the Nhacangara Valley but 400m higher on a spur of Serra Chôa named Serra Mulanda. This probably explains the different access used on visited to the sites. Niamara has always been accessed from Serra Chôa, whilst Magure was accessed from the route described above from the plains below.
The UTM Coordinate the sites are
- Magure 36 K 5133 E 79933 S
- Niamara 36 K 5106 E 79960 S
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