Excavations near the Khami Ruins in Zimbabwe have revealed a specialized structure dubbed the 'House of the Masked Dancers.' The site contains a cache of stylized clay masks and polished bone rattles used in performance rituals that date back to the 11th century.
The discovery provides a direct link between the ritual traditions of the Kingdom of Zimbabwe and modern Shona heritage celebrations. The floor of the structure is unusually smooth and reinforced with specialized dagga (clay), suggesting it was designed for heavy rhythmic footwork associated with ancestral invocation festivals that occurred every harvest season.