Among other soapstone “finds” made recently at these ruins are two fragments of two double claw-hammer-shaped ingot moulds (Pl. I., figs. 7 and 8), each fragment being the major portion of such mould. These were cut into the broken section of an ornamented beam. Moulds of this shape are not, therefore, necessarily ancient, though the form may have been handed down from ancient times. Mr. Selous, some years ago, discovered considerable quantities of copper ingot moulds in actual use by the natives of Katanga, and these were almost the identical shape of the ingot mould discovered by Mr. Bent at Zimbabwe. The Administrator of North-Eastern Rhodesia reported in March, 1900, that ingots of copper in the form of a St. Andrew’s Cross were common articles of trade in the Katanga district. It must also be recollected that three such ingots have been found in Southern Rhodesia. Though old, their appearance does not in any instance suggest antiquity. The author, taking these points into consideration, does not believe that the ingot mould discovered by Mr. Bent can be any evidence of the occupation of this country by the Phœnicians, and this opinion is further confirmed by the locations of the moulds found. (See The Ancient Ruins of Rhodesia, pages 128 and 141; also Appendix thereto, [Note C].)
A straight bar mould (Pl. I., fig. 9) which shows signs of considerable use has also been found, but on an upper clay floor. It is believed that this was used for moulding copper bars. The natives of Kafue, the Molembo people of modern times, and the local Barotse, all these being races of skilful copper workers, are known to have made identically shaped copper bars.
Other soapstone articles include a ball, a few whorls, amulets, and daha pipe-bowls, the latter being of Makalanga make, while it would be extremely difficult to say to which period the other articles belonged.
2. GOLD ARTICLES[35]
Gold in almost every form has been found in quantities on several of the lower floors of the ruins, and from its locations must have been produced and worked, not only by ancients, but by very old Kafir people, possibly under Moslem Arab supervision, for concave fragments of Kafir pottery of a very far back period (and so pronounced by Dr. Hahn and other experts) have been used as crude scorifiers, and the gold can still be seen on them in the flux, while other undoubted Kafir remains, some of which are claimed to be Makalanga of an exceedingly old make, are found associated with the scorifiers. The mediæval Makalanga, as early Portuguese records show, not only produced gold but manufactured it, especially into gold wire. It may be conjectured that this style of metal work was due to Arab influence, for the earliest Portuguese records frequently testify that the Arabs possessed important colonies in the country of the Monomotapa, colonies sufficiently influential to mould the policy of successive Monomotapas, especially as against the incursion of Portuguese, and that the main purpose of the Arab intruders in the country was to obtain gold and ivory. Until the last decade, when the cheap and ready-made European goods became obtainable by the natives, the Makalanga can be conclusively shown to have been a nation of metal smiths capable of producing most excellent work, and of drawing very fine wire, while to-day their art of making wire bangles and covering articles with work in correct patterns is such that the difference between the quality of the native work and that produced by machinery in Europe can hardly be detected. It must be remembered, too, that previously to, and for some time after, the occupation, it was possible to buy gold beads from the natives in Mashonaland. These might to a large extent have been found in ancient ruins, but the majority of such articles so bartered for from the natives consisted of Kafir-made copper and iron bangles with gold beads at intervals round the circle.
Gold and gold articles of the more delicate and artistic manufacture belong mainly to the period of the ancients, but gold, as shown by tradition, history, and “finds,” was also a product of mediæval Makalanga, as can be further demonstrated by any excavator of very old Makalanga floors, and of this the proofs exist abundantly.
The small gold crucibles of granite clay similar to those described on page 221 of Mr. Bent’s work, and found on the lowest floors and in rock holes and fissures used for depositing débris, where they must have been thrown away as rubbish after the small cakes of gold had been removed, although they still contained in the flux large beady pieces of gold. A large number of these have been found in positions where the Kafir clay scorifiers are not met with. It would be well in considering the “finds” of crucibles not to treat them with the pottery gold scorifiers, for, so far as discoveries lead, they undoubtedly appear to belong to entirely different ages.
Several sizes of gold beads have been found. There is no doubt that some places in certain enclosures of the older ruins will yield a fair quantity when the soil on the lower floors is systematically treated. Several beads are perfectly round, others are round but with flat ends, others again show two facets encircling them and meeting at the widest point.
Beaten gold to the amount of about 6 ozs. was found on the lower floors. This was discovered in the form of plates usually about 1½ in. to 2 in. by 1 in., each plate having small holes round the edges, in many of which holes the gold tacks still remained. One piece was wider at one end than at the other, and this is believed to have been a sheathing encircling a section of a piece of ebony found with it, the ebony stick being thick at the top and tapered towards the end. There were remains of embossed designs on two pieces of beaten gold, one of diamond pattern and the other a plain circle with curved radiating marks.
Gold tacks were most usually found with the beaten gold. These are of microscopic size. The majority have wedged-shaped heads, and the others flattened heads. It is believed that these tacks served to fasten the gold sheathing on to wooden articles used by the ancients.