ABSTRACT
This chapter is an attempt to demonstrate that the so called traditional management systems can effectively protect heritage when operated within a combined framework of traditional authority and modern systems of heritage management. Traditional institutions, of which traditional custodians are part, are hybrid in nature; they operate at both traditional and modern levels, appearing as African custodians of local tradition and heritage, and also as modern cosmopolitans. It is these features of traditional custodianship in the Vumba Cultural Landscape (VCL) that will help build an integrated heritage framework for the management of archaeological heritage in southern Africa. Traditional custodianship of culturally significant sites across the VCL is embedded in the local belief-practice systems that have contributed to the preservation and sustainable use of both cultural and natural heritage sites. The meaning of the word 'use' in the context of traditional custodianship of rock art sites acknowledges their different forms of usage and function by the present communities.
