Khami ruins, situated 14 miles (22 km) west of Bulawayo, is the second-largest archaeological site in Zimbabwe. It consists of stone-walled house platform and hut sites in the surrounding hills and open areas.
Khami also has a larger number of walls with decoration than Great Zimbabwe, the most common forms being a check pattern and lines of darker dolerite stones. Despite these architectural differences, Khami clearly belongs to the same cultural tradition as Great Zimbabwe. At both sites the stone structures were associated with status and prestige while the majority of the population lived in huts outside the stone walling.
The power of the Rozvi was eventually eroded by the Nguni incursions from the south during the early 19th century, culminating in the arrival of the Ndebele with King Mzilikazi during the 1830s.
