 But studies of climatic data from the area suggest that a disastrous drought soon struck Mapungubgwe, and the Shashe-Limpopo region was uninhabited between A.D 1300 and 1420, forcing the ordinary population to scatter.Mapungubgwe had become a ghost town by AD 1290.Its golden era lasted no more than 50 years culminating in the rise of Great Zimbabwe.