Rusty rifles to be collected by heritage council
"But these rifles once belonged to warriors - so at least they have been uncovered and will perhaps help us have a better understanding of history."
The rusty muskets that were found by a group of history enthusiasts in the Gluckstadt area in May are to be collected in Dundee by provincial heritage body AMAFA.
“The muskets are now nothing more than a bunch of rusty pipes. It is the excitement of the find that intrigues people who enjoy going out and hunting for such artefacts,” said Gavin Slater of the Dundee Diehards re-enactment group, who collected the muskets.
The muskets were uncovered by the ‘Vryheid History Diggers’, a group of metal detector ‘junkies’ who stumbled across the find while following the path of the 1879 Anglo-Zulu War.
Riaan Leeuwner explained to the Courier’s sister paper, the Vryheid Herald, that the enthusiasts follow the path of history, since it is a passion and a hobby.
“There are so many artefacts beneath the soil that one can’t find with the naked eye,” he explained.
They had permission from the farmer (who owns and cultivates the land to earn a living) to go in and ‘scan for any treasures’.
Riaan emphasised that they do not dig at heritage sites and they were not aware of the location of the guns that were buried a mere 50cm under the surface.
The ‘usual’ finds are old horseshoes and buttons, so uncovering the old muskets surprised the group as ‘their most interesting find to date’.
Thoughts are that the rifles were seized from the Zulus by the British, who had a fort (which no longer exists) in the area.
The barrels of the muskets had been filled and the wooden butts removed – presumably so that anyone finding the rifles would not be able to use them.
AMAFA and the police were notified of the find, and the remains of the weapons taken to Dundee, where AMAFA were to take possession of them.
Gavin Slater commented that the law regarding the finding of historical artefacts is very confusing and unclear.
“Anyone with no historical or military knowledge would simply think that this collection was just a bunch of scrap iron.
“But these rifles once belonged to warriors – so at least they have been uncovered and will perhaps help us have a better understanding of history.”
