Mpumalanga Stone Circles

Mpumalanga is a province of South Africa. The name means "east", or literally "the place where the sun rises" in the Swazi, Xhosa, Ndebele and Zulu languages. Mpumalanga lies in eastern South Africa, bordering Eswatini and Mozambique.

baKoni Ruins

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Machadodorp, also known by its official name eNtokozweni, is a small town situated near the edge of the escarpment in the Mpumalanga province. The hills around the town are terraced with thousands of stone walls which form part of a vast complex of settlements, fields and roads. Some tour guides describe these as South Africa's "real" lost city.

Archaeologists and historians have described the ruins as settlements of the baKoni people. Oral records and historical evidence trace the baKoni to at least the early 18th century. The ongoing 500 Year Initiative to rewrite South Africa's history continues to deliver new insights into the extent and complexity of these settlements. An international group of researchers have placed the baKoni settlements in the context of numerous other cases of agricultural intensification, that took place in the precolonial era in different parts of Africa.

Blaauboschkraal Stone Ruins

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The Blaauboschkraal stone ruins, also known as Adam's Calendar are a provincial heritage site in Waterval Boven in the Mpumalanga province of South Africa. The site was originally declared a national monument on 18 April 1975.

The ruins are the remains of structures created by people who settled the region in the 16th century and who altered the landscape to increase agricultural yields in high-altitude grasslands. The stone rings are believed to have been used as enclosures for cattle (kraals).

The Blaauboskraal stone ruins are among a number of stone circle ruins located in the Mpumalanga escarpment over an area of approximately 150 km2, a number of which are facing threats to conservation.

Information about the people who created these stone circles and terraces was often omitted from South African historical sources.