Based largely on architectural style, the Zimbabwe Culture has \nconventionally been divided into three phases named after the major \nsites of Mapungubwe, Great Zimbabwe and Khami. Within and \nbetween the sites of this important southern African cultural phenomenon, \nthe P, PQ, Q, and R stylistic classification originally defined by \nAnthony Whitty in the 1950s has continued to provide the basic \ndescriptive and analytical framework. This has included continued \nacceptance and assumptions of the chronological as well as sociopolitical \nsignificance and implications associated with these wall \nstyles as originally defined. Ongoing research in the Hwange district, \nhas led to the documentation and assessment of dry stone-walled \nsites that architecturally and in several other respects, do not fit \nthe traditional conventional frameworks. This is challenging the \ncurrently accepted definitions and characterisation of this important \nculture and its associated architecture. This paper discusses the \nvariations in the architectural characteristics of the Hwange district \ndry stone-walled sites in the context of existing national and regional \nstudies of this architectural heritage. Against this background, we \nquestion the continued use and application of outdated and uncritical \ncharacterisations of the Zimbabwe Culture architecture as currently \npresented in the southern African archaeological discourse.
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