EgyptSearch Forums: Ancient African Kingdom May Anchor Cross-Border Conservation Area

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Posted by Obenga (Member # 1790) on :

An Iron Age archaeological site will likely form the centerpiece of a cross-border conservation area under negotiation by three southern African countries.

The proposed Limpopo-Shashe Transfrontier Conservation Area (TFCA) will link land in South Africa, Botswana, and Zimbabwe.

Roughly 50 percent of the designated land lies in South Africa. There, the area's main attraction is Mapungubwe National Park, a 70,000-acre (28,000-hectare) preserve and UNESCO World Heritage site.

Mapungubwe, which opened in September, takes its name from a flat-topped hill that anchored Africa's largest and most powerful kingdom between A.D. 900 and A.D. 1,300.

The archaeological site contains evidence of a culture with social classes and extensive trading ties that extended into Arabia and India.

"The establishment of Mapungubwe as a powerful state, trading through the East African ports with Arabia and India, was a significant stage in the history of the African subcontinent," UNESCO wrote in a dedication upon the area's designation as a World Heritage Site in 2003.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/04/0411_050411_southafrica.html