Abstract:
Several cupreous conical tubes with unclear function are among some of the finds in the
collections held at the University of Pretoria which were unearthed by archaeologists on
Mapungubwe Hill. Most of these are poorly provenanced, particularly those connected with the
activities of Guy Gardner (1935-1940) regarding the waste in northern dump. However, a
redetermination of the context following the excavations of the 1970s suggests the funnels date to
the period of the rise and development of Mapungubwe as a town and centre of a powerful state.
The results from neutron tomography, stereomicroscope and SEM-EDS indicate that the tubes were
most probably used in iron strip-drawing to produce wire.
