Memory, landscape and heritage at Ngquza Hill : an anthropological study

Abstract

The main aim of this study is to investigate the relationship between landscape, memory and heritage. It aims to establish that landscape is not only an inseparable part of the intangible process of memory, but also the formation and perpetuation of cultural and individual identity. The composition of heritage, including the sociocultural and biophysical, is therefore a complex result of varying interactions between memory and landscape, as perceived by the living custodians. The intangible values of meaning, memory, lived experience and attachment, in relation to people's connection to locality and landscape, are traced back to the tangible fabric of place. Through means of qualitative and quantitative anthropological fieldwork methods and an extensive literature review, the sociocultural profile of the Mpondo is briefly documented. The subsequent case study explored a site in the Eastern Cape on Ngquza Hill, where the oral traditions and memories connected to the site are mapped. These elements were accessed through employing the theories of mnemotechnics.