Mediaeval Rhodesia

(London: Frank Cass, 1971) 0714618853. Cass Library of African Studies, African Prehistory No. 3. The first edition was published in 1906. This new edition has a new introductory note by Professor Brian Fagan. 4to; original red cloth, lettered in gilt on spine; dustwrapper; pp. 106, incl. index; plates. Dustwrapper somewhat rubbed and edgeworn; earlier owner's name signed on front pastedown; occasional fox spot. Very good condition, in a good dustwrapper. "In the early years of this century, a young English archaeologist, Dr. David Randall-MacIver, was commissioned to carry out excavations at Zimbabwe and report on the significance of this remarkable monument. The first professional archaeologist to examine the ruins, MacIver used vastly different methods from those of earlier investigators in that he used as evidence all the objects discovered, and not just a selection. His careful comparisons led him to believe that the original inhabitants of Zimbabwe were related to the early twentieth-century inhabitants of the area, and his use of new methods of dating enabled him to establish a relative chronology of the various occupations of the ruins. MacIver's assertion that Zimbabwe was African in origin and belonged to the Mediaeval Period caused a furious academic controversy, the echoes of which linger still, but his reliability was recognized by many contemporary scientists, and his results were confirmed in 1929, when Gertrude Caton Thompson carried out further work at Zimbabwe." .