Meanwhile, the Valley Complex below housed the area’s underlings from the 14th through 16th centuries. The Hill Complex at the Great Zimbabwe Ruins Photo: DeAgostini / Getty Images.

The origins of Great Zimbabwe in Africa trace back to the Gokomere culture, ... It was divided into three architectural complexes: the Hill Complex, the Valley Complex, and the Great Enclosure.

The structures of Great Zimbabwe. ... The Great Enclosure was built in the 13th century and inhabited until the 15th century, while the Valley Complex was built in the 14th century.

Exploring the Great Zimbabwe, the stone remains of an old city that existed some time in 1100CE, abandoned three centuries later, and then rediscovered in the 19th century.