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Question

Difficulty: MediumExplicit Details

Great Zimbabwe, a medieval city in the southeastern hills of Zimbabwe, is renowned for its monumental stone walls. Constructed between the 11th and 15th centuries by the ancestral Shona people, these walls are unique because they were built entirely using dry-stone masonry, meaning no mortar was used to bind the granite blocks together. The largest structure, the Great Enclosure, has walls reaching heights of over 30 feet. While early European investigators incorrectly hypothesized that the city was built by foreign civilizations, modern archaeological evidence confirms that the local Shona population designed and constructed the complex. The walls likely served as a symbol of royal authority and prestige rather than primary defensive fortifications, given their layout and lack of defensive features.

According to the text, which statement is true about the construction of the walls at Great Zimbabwe?

  1. They were built without the use of mortar to hold the stone blocks together.Answer
  2. B
    They were built primarily to defend the local population from military invasions.
  3. C
    They were designed and constructed by foreign civilizations visiting the region.
  4. D
    They served as the primary residential quarters for the entire Shona population.

Answer

The walls of Great Zimbabwe were built without the use of mortar to hold the stone blocks together.
The correct answer is supported by the text's explicit statement that the walls of Great Zimbabwe are unique because they were built entirely using dry-stone masonry, meaning no mortar was used to bind the granite blocks together.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the key details in the passage regarding the construction methods of the walls of Great Zimbabwe.
The passage states that the walls 'were built entirely using dry-stone masonry, meaning no mortar was used to bind the granite blocks together.'
This direct statement provides the explicit fact required to answer the question.
2
Evaluate the choices against the identified explicit details from the text.
The statement about the walls being built without mortar matches the text directly, whereas other choices contradict the text or introduce unsupported speculations.
This confirms the correct option based strictly on the text's explicit information.

Key Concept

Identifying explicit details in an informational text
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Explicit Details

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