Climate-smart harvesting and storing of water: The legacy of dhaka pits at Great Zimbabwe

A groundbreaking discovery at Great Zimbabwe reveals that dhaka pits, closed depressions used for water storage and harvesting, were integral to the ancient urban society's climate-smart water management system. These pits, possibly dating back to the mid-second millennium CE, formed part of a landscape-scale strategy that leveraged catchment hydrology and groundwater to secure water for subsistence, farming, and rituals. The study integrates soil profiles, high-resolution topographic data, historical sources, and socioecological memory to reconstruct this sophisticated system, emphasizing its long-term significance in addressing water security challenges in sub-Saharan Africa's water-scarce regions.

Pikirayi, I., Sulas, F., Nxumalo, B., Sagiya, M. E., Stott, D., Kristiansen, S. M., Chirikure, S., & Musindo, T. (2022). Climate-smart harvesting and storing of water: The legacy of dhaka pits at Great Zimbabwe. Anthropocene, 40, 100357. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ancene.2022.100357