19 · OBJECT · LIMPOPO-SHASHE

Gold rhinoceros

The small gold rhinoceros of Mapungubwe

Gold sheets give shape to this small animal associated with the elite of Mapungubwe.

Museum documentation · free public access, no account required.

Gold rhinoceros at actual size beside a diagram of the sheets, core and restorations — **EDITORIAL VISUALISATION DECLARED · AI-GENERATED IMAGE · TRACEKEEPERS**
Editorial visualisation · Contextual correspondence
Declared editorial visualisation, based on the cartography and sources of the fact sheet; it is not an exact historical frontier.

**EDITORIAL VISUALISATION DECLARED · AI-GENERATED IMAGE · TRACEKEEPERS**
Editorial visualisation · Contextual correspondence
Declared editorial visualisation, based on the cartography and sources of the fact sheet; it is not an exact historical frontier.

History and context

Gold sheets form a small rhinoceros associated with Mapungubwe’s elite.

It was found in 1933 and finally restored in 1999; its museum history spanned segregationist policies and a new display in 2026.

Evidence and interpretation

Documented discovery, material, restoration and university custodianship.

Catalogue facts

Narrative date: ca. 1220–1290; found in 1933
Location: Mapungubwe Hill; now UP Museums, Pretoria
Material: Gold sheet over a restored core
Context: Specialisation, hierarchy and museum history
Curatorial reading: The documented fact and its interpretation appear separately in the evidence block.
Dossier axis: treasures
Research record: BANTU · bantu-treasure-mapungubwe-rhino
Documentary coverage: 2 museum, heritage, primary corpus or research sources for this stop.

A SHARED TOPIC, DIFFERENT MOMENTS

Objects connected through time

Follow a topic across the collections. A shared tag is a way to compare objects, not proof that one culture influenced another.

The order uses the midpoint of each approximate date range; ranges can overlap. Spacing does not represent elapsed time. Swipe, scroll or use the arrows. With the sequence focused, use ← / →, Home or End.

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ca. 1220–1290; found in 1933

Gold rhinoceros

Bantu-speaking worlds

Date of the object/context; 1933 is the year of discovery.

Current record

Gold32 dated objects

32 / 32In the centre: Gold rhinoceros

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Sculpture

Lion-man · ≈40,000 years · Aurignacian · Prehistory
Lespugue · ≈28,000 years · Prehistory
Zaraysk Bison · ≈23,000–21,000 years · Prehistory
Shigir Idol · C. 10,000 BCE · approximation; debated dating · Prehistory
Warka Mask · End of the 4th millennium BCE · Sumer
Gebel el-Arak knife · 3600–3200 BCE · Naqada II C–D · Ancient Egypt
Uruk Vase · ca. 3300–3000 BCE · Sumer
Narmer Palette · ca. 3100 BCE · Ancient Egypt
Before Yayoi · Middle Jōmon, ca. 3000 BCE · Yayoi Japan
Ur-Nanshe relief · Mid-3rd millennium BCE · reign of Ur-Nanshe · Sumer
The goat from PG 1237 · ca. 2600–2400 BCE · Sumer
Stele of the Vultures · Towards 2450–2425 BCE · Sumer
Akkadian sovereign head · Akkadian period · 23rd century BCE · Sumer
Bassetki Statue · Akkadian period · 23rd century BCE · Sumer
Naram-Sin Stele · Reign of Naram-Sin, 2254–2218 BCE · Sumer
Before Pre-Inca Cultures · Kotosh-Mito Tradition, c. 2200–1500 BCE; the enclosure is usually situated around 1800 BCE. · Pre-Inca cultures
Queen of the Night · 19th–18th centuries BCE · Sumer
Bull-leaping · c. 1600–1450 BCE · Greek worlds
Wooden faces · c. 1600–1000 BCE, in several phases · Maya worlds
Head 2 · c. 1200–900 BCE · Maya worlds
The voice of Ahiram · c. 11th–10th century BCE · Phoenicians
Before the Scythians and Sakas · Final Bronze–Initial Iron, ca. 1200–600 BCE · Scythians and Saka
Black Obelisk · 825 BCE · Sumer
Ivory in Nimrud · 9th–8th centuries BCE · Phoenicians
Las Limas · c. 1000–600 BCE · Maya worlds
Astarte from El Carambolo · 8th century BCE · Phoenicians
Astarte from El Carambolo · 8th century BCE · Iberians
Lamassu of Khorsabad · Reign of Sargon II · 721–705 BCE · Sumer
The Lanzón · c. 900–500 BCE · Pre-Inca cultures
Stele of Esarhaddon · 7th century BC C. · 671 campaign BCE · Sumer
The so-called ‘Priest of Cádiz’ · 7th century BCE · Phoenicians
The so-called ‘Priest of Cádiz’ · 7th century BCE · Iberians
The Tello Obelisk · c. 800–500 BCE · Pre-Inca cultures
Ashurbanipal Hunt · 645–635 BCE · Sumer
Heads on the wall · c. 800–300 BCE · Pre-Inca cultures
Two voices in an urn · 530–520 BCE · Etruscans and Rome
The god on the roof · Towards 510–500 BCE · Etruscans and Rome
Glazed brick guards · 522–486 BCE · Achaemenid Persia
Twenty-three delegations · 6th–5th centuries BCE, mainly under Darius and Xerxes · Achaemenid Persia
Sarcophagus of Eshmunazar · first quarter of the 5th century BCE · Phoenicians
The statue was the urn · First half of the 4th century BCE · Iberians
The Raimondi Stele · c. 400–200 BCE according to MNAAHP · Pre-Inca cultures
Torreáguila fountain spout · 101–125 CE · Etruscans and Rome
The date of 292 · 292 CE · Maya worlds
Articulated doll from Tarragona · Late 3rd–4th century CE · Etruscans and Rome
Seven heads · c. 500–700 CE · Bantu-speaking worlds
Seated figure · 13th century, date attributed by the museum · Mande Worlds
Gold rhinoceros · ca. 1220–1290; found in 1933 · Bantu-speaking worlds — You are viewing
Zimbabwe birds · main period of Great Zimbabwe, c. 12th–15th centuries · Bantu-speaking worlds
Kongo crucifix · 16th–17th centuries · Bantu-speaking worlds
Kuba ndop · ca. 1760 · Bantu-speaking worlds

Without a comparable date (not part of the chronological order):

Before Persia · Central core c. seventeenth century BCE; Neo-Elamite additions between the ninth and sixth centuries BCE · Achaemenid Persia
Lararium of Vilauba · Roman period · Etruscans and Rome
The Thracian Horseman · Roman era · diffusion especially in the 2nd–3rd centuries CE · Thracians

Animal imagery

Lion-man · ≈40,000 years · Aurignacian · Prehistory
Before the San · ≈25.500–23.500 BCE · San histories
Before the name San · ≈25.500–23.500 BCE · San histories
Altamira · Assemblage ≈36,000–13,000 BP · bison ≈18,400–15,300 cal BP · Prehistory
Lascaux · ≈23,500–21,000 cal BP · debated contextual estimate · Prehistory
Zaraysk Bison · ≈23,000–21,000 years · Prehistory
Rondelle de Mas-d'Azil · ≈18,000–16,000 years · Prehistory
Lamp from La Mouthe · ≈20,500–13,000 years · Magdalenian framework · Prehistory
Engraved stone from Çakmaktepe · PPNA · site proposal: ≈9600–8800 BCE, provisional · Prehistory
Cueva de las Manos · Sequence ≈9300–1300 BP · Prehistory
Cylinder seal · c. 3500–3100 BCE · Sumer
Queen's Lyre · ca. 2600–2500 BCE · Sumer
The goat from PG 1237 · ca. 2600–2400 BCE · Sumer
Indus seals · ca. 2600–1900 BCE · Indus civilisation
Queen of the Night · 19th–18th centuries BCE · Sumer
Bull-leaping · c. 1600–1450 BCE · Greek worlds
Stag Vessel · 14th–13th centuries BCE · Hittites
Before the Scythians and Sakas · Final Bronze–Initial Iron, ca. 1200–600 BCE · Scythians and Saka
Ivory in Nimrud · 9th–8th centuries BCE · Phoenicians
Lamassu of Khorsabad · Reign of Sargon II · 721–705 BCE · Sumer
The Tello Obelisk · c. 800–500 BCE · Pre-Inca cultures
Ashurbanipal Hunt · 645–635 BCE · Sumer
Banquet under leopards · Around 480–470 BCE · Etruscans and Rome
The oldest knotted carpet · 5th–4th centuries BCE · Scythians and Saka
The silver amphora of Chertomlyk · 4th century BCE · Greek worlds
Thoth in the form of a baboon · 664–30 BCE · Ancient Egypt
Poroina Mare Rhyton · Second half of the 4th century BCE · Thracians
Borovo · 4th century BC C.; 350–300 BCE in the ISAW catalog. · Thracians
Leipzig Fish Plate · Last third 4th–early 3rd century BCE · Greek worlds
Dove of the Amarejo · 3rd century BCE · Iberians
Chão de Lamas pectoral · 3rd–2nd centuries BCE · concealed in the early 1st century BCE · Iberians
Fibula from Lancia · ≈300–100 BCE · Iberians
Horse fibula · 2nd century BCE · disputed chronology · Iberians
The dismantled cauldron · 2nd–1st centuries BCE · Celtic worlds
Kalathos of Alcorisa · 2nd–1st centuries BCE · Iberians
Egyptian oil lamp with a fish, held in Laon · 3rd–4th centuries CE · Ancient Egypt
Laon lamp with fish · 3rd–4th centuries CE · Etruscans and Rome
Gold rhinoceros · ca. 1220–1290; found in 1933 · Bantu-speaking worlds — You are viewing
Zimbabwe birds · main period of Great Zimbabwe, c. 12th–15th centuries · Bantu-speaking worlds

Without a comparable date (not part of the chronological order):

Bhimbetka · Mesolithic–historical and medieval period · Prehistory
Eland Cave · Regional tradition of ≈4,000 years · up to historical period · Prehistory
Fawn spear-thrower · Middle Magdalenian · Prehistory
Game Pass Shelter · Regional rock art chronology · panel not dated in isolation · San histories
Kakadu · Regional corpus ≈20,000 BP–contemporary era · Prehistory
Leang Karampuang · Minimum 51,200 years · dating published in 2024 · Prehistory
Sierra de San Francisco · Broad tradition with direct dates ≈5290–295 BP · Prehistory
Tassili n’Ajjer · Corpus ≈6000 BCE–first centuries CE · Prehistory
The Thracian Horseman · Roman era · diffusion especially in the 2nd–3rd centuries CE · Thracians
Trumpet from Numantia · No individual dating published on this record · Iberians

Metalworking

The Gold of Varna · Towards 4600–4200 BCE · Thracians
Before Phoenicia · 20th–18th centuries BCE · Phoenicians
Valchitran · second half of the 14th century–beginning of the 13th century BCE, according to NAIM; other publications use wider intervals from the Late Bronze. · Thracians
Gold at Kuntur Wasi · c. 800–550 BCE · Pre-Inca cultures
Condomina Earring · 6th century BCE · Iberians
Bow and arrows in a case · 5th–4th centuries BCE · Scythians and Saka
Coțofenești helmet · Second half of the 5th century – beginning of the 4th century BCE · Thracians
The Solokha gold comb · 4th century BCE · Greek worlds
Treasure of Jávea · 4th century BCE · Iberians
Falcata from Almedinilla · 4th–3rd centuries BCE · Iberians
Marina Alta Hoard · Jewellery: 5th–2nd centuries BCE; concealment probably around 80–73 BCE. · Iberians
Panagyurishte · late 4th century – early 3rd century BCE, towards 300 BCE · Thracians
The Shield that Did Not Fight · Around 350–50 BCE · Celtic worlds
Simancas-type belt buckle · Second half of the IV century–V century CE · Iberians
Moulds for gold · 9th–11th centuries CE · Mande Worlds
Gold rhinoceros · ca. 1220–1290; found in 1933 · Bantu-speaking worlds — You are viewing

Without a comparable date (not part of the chronological order):

A closer look

About 1 min to read · 1 section. Further reading and sources · free access. Editorial review recorded: September 5, 2026.

The small holes reveal how it was assembled

Alex Duffey describes two gold sheets formed over a wooden core by folding and small nails; other elements fixed the ears, eyes and horn. The open legs retain perforations suggesting additional fastening to a flat surface. He compared these traces with a bovine and a feline from the same context and proposed they formed part of a larger object, possibly a divinatory vessel. The assembly technique is observable; this functional reconstruction remains the author’s hypothesis. The rhinoceros may not have been conceived as an autonomous sculpture.

Research · Alex Duffey · Mapungubwe: Interpretation of the Gold Content of the Original Gold Burial M1, A620, 2012Access recorded: September 5, 2026.

Where it is held

University of Pretoria Museums · Javett-UP

Item or group in the record · On display

The University of Pretoria documents the custodianship and public display of the gold rhinoceros; opening hours and display rotations should be checked before a visit.

The holding institution is documented; public display may change. Check its official record before visiting.

Sources and references

Expand this information and consult its sources

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History and context

Evidence and interpretation

Catalogue facts

Gold rhinoceros

The Gold of Varna

Puabi headdress

The goat from PG 1237

Before Phoenicia

Tutankhamun's grave goods

Stag Vessel

Valchitran

Before the Iberias

Tomb 1 at Kuntur Wasi

Kushite king

Gold at Kuntur Wasi

Regolini-Galassi tomb

Condomina Earring

Uni was also Astarte

Ezerovo Ring

Coțofenești helmet

A battle on a comb

The Kul-Oba vase

The Solokha gold comb

The archer in gold

Treasure of Jávea

Susa grave goods

Thoth in the form of a baboon

Faces of the Steppe

Poroina Mare Rhyton

Treasure of Cheste

Marina Alta Hoard

Panagyurishte

Mairena Hoard

Patera from Perotito

Moulds for gold

Gold rhinoceros

A closer look

The small holes reveal how it was assembled

Where it is held

University of Pretoria Museums · Javett-UP

Sources and references

Did you enjoy this exhibit?