Gold Vessel

Original Gold Grave (M1 A620), Mapungubwe Hill

AD 1250 – AD 1290

78.09g, 140.21mm x 61.26mm

Mapungubwe National Heritage Collection

The gold bowl or vessel was unevenly hammered out from a single sheet of thin gold foil, and then folded and pleated into a hemispherical shape and held in place with tiny gold tacks or nails, many of which have been deformed by the hammering process and the perforations are clearly visible in the gold foil. The actual function of this vessel remains unknown, but it carries symbolic value as a sacred burial object that was once associated with the elite, which lived and were buried on Mapungubwe Hill. The gold vessel was discovered in 1934 and was restored and reconstructed by the British Museum in London, 2001. The gold vessel is specifically declared heritage object.