ABSTRACT
In Zimbabwe and other southern African countries, local communities maintain a relationship with their ancestors through the performance of rituals and ceremonies at cultural heritage sites. This chapter examines two World Heritage Sites (WHS), Great Zimbabwe and Tsodilo, located in Zimbabwe and Botswana respectively, which are both heritage places and areas of on-going settlement. Priority had been given to the conservation and maintenance of the archaeological and tangible heritage of Tsodilo over the intangible heritage of the site and the local culture. The link between anchors of heritage conservation and preservation is rooted in an understanding of the context. The chapter argues that understanding intangible cultural heritage (ICH) is integral to managing material heritage and that safeguarding ICH may be one way through which diverse heritage values, meanings and uses may be protected and preserved. The case studies explore the specificity of values that lead to the safeguarding of ICH or hindrances in safeguarding ICH in the southern African context.
