Stone without mortar

c. 11th–15th centuries

Walls that hold themselves up

Great Zimbabwe is built from granite. The rock of the surrounding hills weathers naturally into slabs, and those slabs were dressed and laid in courses to make free-standing walls — no mortar, no timber frame, nothing binding the stones except their own weight and the accuracy of the coursing.

The scale is what registers first. The Great Enclosure's outer wall runs for hundreds of metres and stands over five metres high in places, with a solid conical tower inside it. Building like this needs quarrying, transport, a labour force, and people who know exactly how much a dry-stone wall can take.

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