Image: Tim Hauf/Corbis. The golden rhinoceros of Mapungubwe is an ancient artifact from the ancient Kingdom of Mapungubwe, which is located in modern-day South Africa. It was found on a royal grave on Mapungubwe Hill in 1932 by archaeologists from the University of Pretoria. The artifact is described as being "small enough to stand in the palm of your hand", and also as southern Africa’s equivalent of Tutankhamun’s mask or the Staffordshire hoard. For decades it was largely ignored in South Africa because it contradicted the racist ideology of apartheid, which taught that history began when the first Dutch settler arrived in Cape Town in 1652. Few were willing to contemplate that the rhino, made of several pieces of thin gold foil originally nailed on to a wooden carving, could be the work of a much earlier black culture. Since the dawn of multiracial democracy, Mapungubwe has been declared a World Heritage Site by Unesco and incorporated into a national park. A museum on the university campus holds 9kg of gold treasures found at the site – the biggest archaeological collection of gold artefacts in sub-Saharan Africa – of which 3.5 kg, including the rhino, are on display. (http://elhurgador.blogspot.nl/2017/07/rinocerontes-lxxxiv.html) Gold rhinoceros figurine made of several foil fragments originally nailed onto a core possibly of soft wood, evidenced by multiple nail perforations. The body is a single folded sheet and the head with a square muzzle is made in separate foil. The feet are flared outward. The shoulders with a prominent bump and stumpy short legs are clearly defined, as are the torso and sloping rump. (http://www.sahra.org.za/sahris/objects/mapg2015001) ...since the end of racist rule in 1994, the stunning object - just 15 millimetres (six inches) long and more than 700 years old - has become a defining symbol of pre-colonial civilisation in South Africa. Described as southern Africa's equivalent of Tutankhamun's mask, the golden foil rhino could be displayed overseas for the first time in the British Museum at an exhibition of South African art late next year.... ...weighs just 42.8g... (http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/culture-war-brews-over-sa-golden-rhino-figurine-20151219) See also: https://beta.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/the-return-of-the-golden-rhino/article545513/?ref=http://www.theglobeandmail.com&