A guide to historical buildings, archeological sites, cultural treasures and scenic areas that make up the Northern Provinces's most valuable heritage sites Mapungubwe Archaeological site , Messina. The site, in the Northern Province, is one of the richest archaeological sites in Africa.
Researchers say it was the first capital of the ancient kingdom of Great Zimbabwe.
Excavations in the 1930s uncovered a royal graveyard which included a number of golden artefacts, among them three golden rhinos, a sceptre and an assortment of gold jewellery. The emerging class distinctions are reflected in Mapungubwe s settlement. Iron Age sites , Kgopolwe, Phalaborwa. It has been estimated that the baPhalaborwa occupied the site of Sealene, where there are remnants of walls and graves of the royal residence of around 24 baPhalaborwa chiefs, making it a sacred spiritual ancestral site. The koppie of Kgopolwe is tied to Sealene as it was the second royal residence, though it was only occupied in times of trouble, when the chief would obscure his whereabouts by moving between homes.