Abstract:
This paper is an attempt to give a credible interpretation of
the many gold foil fragments found in a single grave on the
summit of Mapungubwe Hill in January 1933. While carefully
studying the many fragments of gold foil and the restored
rhino, bovine and feline from the Mapungubwe collection at
the University of Pretoria, the author noticed that the same
type of images, symbols and shapes are found on the rim and
base of an old divining bowl at present at Groote Schuur in
Cape Town, as well as on more recent BaVenda divining
bowls. It was also apparent that the Mapungubwe gold rhino,
bovine and feline are all relatively of the same size, that
they all have curved bodies and that all have flared feet with
small tack holes at their bases, indicating that they were likely
once attached to a flat round wooden surface. Along with the
remains of a crocodile once in Dr Marc Smalle’s collection in
Polokwane, all these figurines came from a single grave on
Mapungubwe Hill, referred to as the Original Gold Burial M1,
A620. It is argued that all the fragments were once attached
to a single object, namely an elaborately carved wooden
divining bowl which had disintegrated over time. While the
complete collection of gold foil fragments recovered in the
1930s may have allowed a relatively accurate reconstruction
of the appearance of the vessel which they originally covered,
many of these are missing and therefore this is unfortunately
not possible. Enough fragments remain, however, to give a
credible partial reconstruction of the bowl based on careful
iconographic observation.
