New research at the UNESCO World Heritage site of Great Zimbabwe has revealed a far more complex water management system than previously documented. Using ground-penetrating radar, scientists found a series of interconnected pits (known locally as 'dhaka') that served as reservoirs during the dry season, linked by stone-lined subterranean channels.
This hydraulic engineering allowed the city's inhabitants, part of a powerful Iron Age kingdom, to sustain a large population and livestock in a semi-arid environment. The findings suggest that the civilization's collapse may have been linked to a prolonged failure of this system rather than external conflict, offering a lesson in ancient environmental resilience.