The Republic of Zimbabwe, covering an area of 390.757sq km is bounded on the north and north-west by Zambia, on the south-west by Botswana, by Mozambique on the east and on the south by South Africa. The country lies astride the high plateau between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers. Zimbabwe’s prehistory can be divided into the Stone Age, the early and late Stone Ages. Its earliest known inhabitants a Khoisan language. Then, about AD 200, during the late Iron Age, the Bantu speakers arrived in small groups migrating from the north (Mudenge, 1988:22). Authorities are agreed that these are the ancestors of Shona people. In time these people evolved the art of building in stone and state formation. They built the following states and left stone ruins at the sites of these ancient empires (Beach 1984):

• Great Zimbabwe State,, thirteenth to fifteenth century
• Torwa State, fifteenth to seventeenth century.
• Mutapa state, fifteenth to nineteenth century.
• Changamire (Rozvi) State, seventeenth to nineteenth century.

The Torwa, Mutapa and Changamire states are outgrowths from Great Zimbabwe State, which was located near present day Masvingo town. The greatest of their stone building achievements are Great Zimbabwe, Khami, Danangombe, Nhandare and Matendere stone structures. The first people to do trade with the African people were Arabs followed by the Portuguese.