TRADITIONAL CUSTODIANSHIP OF ROCK ART SITES IN SOUTHERN AFRICA: A CASE STUDY FROM CENTRAL MOZAMBIQUE By Albino Pereira de Jesus Jopela Student No: 0718659T A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Humanities, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in fulfilment of the requirements for the award of the degree of Masters of Arts (Rock Art Studies) September, 2010 i Contents List of Figures ............................................................................................................................................... iv List of Tables ................................................................................................................................................. v Declaration ................................................................................................................................................... vi Acronyms .................................................................................................................................................... vii Acknowledgements .................................................................................................................................... viii Abstract ........................................................................................................................................................ ix 1. INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................................................................... 1 1.1. Statement of research problem ........................................................................................................ 1 1.2. Research aim and objectives ............................................................................................................. 3 1.3. Rationale ............................................................................................................................................ 4 1.4. Outline of chapters ............................................................................................................................ 5 2. APPROACHES TO HERITAGE MANAGEMENT: TERMINOLOGY, THEORY AND PRACTICE .......................... 6 3. SETTING THE SCENE: THE VCL AND ROCK ART MANAGEMENT IN MOZAMBIQUE ................................ 23 3.1. The VCL ............................................................................................................................................ 23 3.2. The Archaeological background of the area .................................................................................... 30 3.3. A Brief History of Rock Art Management in Mozambique .............................................................. 35 4. METHODOLOGICAL APPROACHES AND DATA ANALYSIS ........................................................................ 40 4.1. Methods ........................................................................................................................................... 40 4.1.1. Desktop survey ......................................................................................................................... 40 4.1.2. Case study ................................................................................................................................ 41 4.1.3. Interviews ................................................................................................................................. 42 4.1.4. Fieldwork .................................................................................................................................. 45 4.2. Data Analysis .................................................................................................................................... 47 4.2.1. Sacred places in the VCL ........................................................................................................... 47 4.2.2. Local practices related to rock art sites ................................................................................... 53 4.2.3. Rules and institutions concerning the use of, and access to rock art sites .............................. 54 4.3. Conclusions ...................................................................................................................................... 62 5. TRADITIONAL CUSTODIANSHIP AT THE VCL ........................................................................................... 64 5.1. The Shona worldview ...................................................................................................................... 64 ii 5.1.1. Implications for the management of heritage places .............................................................. 68 5.2. Uses of rock art sites in the VCL. ..................................................................................................... 70 5.2.1. The role of rain-control in managing natural and cultural resources ...................................... 76 5.3. The role of the traditional authority in heritage management ....................................................... 79 5.3.1 Discussion .................................................................................................................................. 87 5.3.2. Conclusions ................................................................................................................................... 98 6. TRADITIONAL CUSTODIANSHIP SYSTEMS IN SOUTHERN AFRICA ......................................................... 100 6.1. Case studies ................................................................................................................................... 101 6.1.1. Matobo Hills World Heritage Site .......................................................................................... 101 6.1.2. Chongoni Rock Art Area ......................................................................................................... 108 6.2. Lessons learnt from the case studies ............................................................................................ 112 7. THE WAY FORWARD: AN INTEGRATED MANAGEMENT SYSTEM FOR HERITAGE IN MOZAMBIQUE ... 121 7.1. Conclusion ..................................................................................................................................... 126 8. REFERENCES .......................................................................................................................................... 129 9. APPENDIX 1 ........................................................................................................................................... 143 iii List of Figures Figure 1: The Vumba Moutain Range ......................................................................................................... 23 Figure 2: Map showing the location of the VCL .......................................................................................... 25 Figure 3: Chinhamapere Hill ........................................................................................................................ 25 Figure 4: Chinhamapere I rock art panel showing human, animals and anthropomorphs figures ............ 26 Figure 5: Scenes of human groups at Chinhamapere I rock art panel ........................................................ 27 Figure 6: The Location of Moucondihwa rock shelter on the Guidingue Hill ............................................. 28 Figure 7: Bantu-speaker rock art tradition at Moucondihwa shelter ......................................................... 29 Figure 8: Local community knowledge of sacred places in the VCL ........................................................... 48 Figure 9: Type of sacred sites in the VLC .................................................................................................... 49 Figure 10: The reasons given for why places are considered sacred .......................................................... 50 Figure 11: Question asked to investigate the relationship between rock art sites and sacred places....... 52 Figure 12: Activities at rock art sites ........................................................................................................... 53 Figure 13: Prevalence of rules governing access and use of sacred places ................................................ 55 Figure 14: Responsibility over the protection of sacred places .................................................................. 57 Figure 15: Compliance with the rules regarding access to sacred places ................................................... 58 Figure 16: Non-compliance with the rules regarding to sacred places ...................................................... 60 Figure 17: Reason for respecting and protecting sacred places ................................................................. 61 Figure 18: The continuous effects of deforestation at Chinhamapere Hill in 2002 .................................... 69 Figure 19: Rain-control ceremony at the foothill of Chinhamapere ........................................................... 74 Figure 20: Mbeya Gondo approaching the ancestors at Chinhamapere I rock art site .............................. 75 Figure 21: Political structure of traditional authority in Manica District .................................................... 87 Figure 22: Mambo Chirara (in brown uniform) during the rain-control ritual in the Guidengue area ...... 95 Figure 23: Map showing the VCL in relation to other case studies in Southern Africa ..........................