The Soapstone Birds of Great Zimbabwe

Book excerpt: Beautifully produced and illustrated, this study of the Zimbabwean birds is more than a description or history of the eight soapstone carvings found at the Great Zimbabwe historical site. It offers an insight into an aspect of the cultural heritage of Zimbabwe and an interpretation of the important site of Great Zimbabwe from which it is inherited. The story of the birds is used to explore themes in Zimbabwean historiography. By focusing on the religious symbolism of the birds, the author argues that the Great Zimbabwe site was both a political and religious centre. Practically the work illustrates the central symbolic meaning of the birds to the people and nation of Zimbabwe. And the work is in the context of the construction of an authentic national history. In a foreward, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Zimbabwe says that the birds are constitutents of a living tradition embodying the body spirit of the modern national state of Zimbabwe.