Published in The Herald (South Africa) on 12 August 2024
On July 26, SA received the news that the United Nations Economic Social and Cultural Council (Unesco) has declared Pinnacle Point near Mossel Bay a World Heritage Site.
The accolade is significant for SA.The declaration adds a culturally meaningful and globally significant site to SA’s existing list of 10 World Heritage Sites.
World Heritage Sites are places of deep cultural and natural significance that express living heritage and social meaning.
Some of us work at the interface between natural and social science, tracing the story of human evolution, others focus explicitly on the cultural dimensions of human life.
As a social and cultural anthropologist, I lead a team of graduate African students who research intangible cultural heritage (ICH).
These are human ritual practices, beliefs, values, songs and oral histories.
We listen to, document and analyse stories of living heritage in coastal Africa.
We rely on insights from archaeologists, botanists, marine ecologists and palaeoanthropologists to understand early and current human relations at the coast.
For us, the inscription of these Southern Cape coast caves to World Heritage status is exhilarating news because the site is one of exceptional cultural significance and natural beauty.
Pinnacle Point site 13B (PP13B), one of the many sites at Pinnacle Point, is the only site in Africa that displays an adaptation to the sea that dates older than 120,000 years ago, and has human occupation dated back to around 160,000 years ago.
It tells the story of Africans in a narrative of global human cultural heritage.
The Pinnacle Point sites meet the World Heritage Site criteria and more because of their exceptional beauty and their human and archaeological importance.
Fish, for example, contain key fatty-acids for brain development associated with higher order cognitive functions.
It also tells us the story of the evolution of the uniquely human cognition, emotions and psychology, and how we may have developed higher order social, linguistic and artistic skills.
These discoveries complement associated, equally valuable research in the region on fish-traps near Tsitsikamma developed by indigenous people, as well as botanical research on healing plants used in biomedicine.
While these criteria are decided by the global heritage organisation of Unesco and the nomination documents prepared by some of the world’s finest minds, I find it equally compelling to consider the social and cultural aspects of the declaration of Pinnacle Point as a
World Heritage Site. Since October 2020, my small team and I have been conducting anthropological research on the South Cape coast.
Our stories are stories of dispossession, the forcible displacement of indigenes and autochthones and often, the loss of their livelihoods.
We analyse and document the stories of those desiring positive socioeconomic change in coastal settings.
The research also shows us for whom the new Unesco World Heritage Site would matter the most. The caves are in many ways, sacred sites.
It is in these caves that the First Nations peoples conduct for example, the !Nau ceremonies, ceremonies designed to help those who wish to reassume an indigenous identity after apartheid.
Speaking to “Bishop” Gail Baaitjies, the Paramount Chief of the Gorillaes Khoi Korana Kraal in Mossel Bay who was visibly humbled and moved by the Unesco declaration, I learnt that the new heritage site matters because it recognises the role of the Khoisan people in the foundational history of SA.
She said that it is they who have played a critical role in the earliest evolution of human beings in the country.
Gail added that “this has revolutionised our understanding of the origins of modern human beings and their culture ... the research goes beyond archaeology”.
“For us as a Khoi collective, it is significantly important that we are being recognised for who we are, where we come from and where we are going ... we feel it is important that we should be the custodians of this site in conjunction with scientists so that this asset can be conserved. This site tells our story.”
World Heritage is valuable not only because of the accolade it offers a nation, it is valuable because it can restore dignity and identity. It makes a people who have suffered much, more resilient and visible in a rapidly changing world.
Opinion piece by Professor Rosabelle Boswell Department of Science and Innovation-National Research Foundation Research Chair in Ocean Cultures and Heritage at Nelson Mandela University