This paper investigates the role of piping, a geomorphological process relevant to interpreting the fossil and archaeological records of Africa. Until now, piping has not been reported from African palaeontological or archaeological contexts. However, under suitable circumstances piping processes were active in the continent as elsewhere in the world, throughout the Neogene and Quaternary, which could explain some apparent anomalies in the African fossil record such as the presence of Middle Miocene fossils at Bukwa II, Uganda, in strata that have traditionally been correlated to the Early Miocene on the basis of radio-isotopic dating of subjacent volcanic layers. Examples of fossil-rich pipe sediments are described from Napak, Uganda, and at two sites on Rusinga Island, Kenya, one of which was previously interpreted to be the infilling of a hollow tree. Neogene and modern examples from Namibia are important for understanding the implications of the process. Implementiferous pipe deposits are known in South Africa, and are likely to be present in East Africa, but are currently unrecognised as such. Keywords: Piping, Geomorphology, Biochronology, Archaeology, Kenya, Uganda, Namibia.