Cultural Affairs and Sports

Introduction:

The Pleistocene occupation sites of Klasies River, Border Cave, Wonderwerk Cave and comparable sites relating to the emergence of modern humans (serial nomination) has been on the Tentative List of South African Sites for World Heritage Site Nomination since 2003. Due to a number of academic publications since then, Heritage Western Cape has been working to amend this title to read:

“The Emergence of Modern Humans: The Pleistocene occupation sites of South Africa [including Blombos (BBC), Border Cave (BC), Diepkloof (DKF), Klasies River (KR), Pinnacle Point (PP), Sibudu Cave (SC) and comparable sites relating to the emergence of modern humans (serial nomination)].”

This amendment was presented to a tentative list revisions workshop of the South African World Heritage Convention Committee on 3 November 2014and was well received, so there is little doubt that an amended tentative listing document will be submitted to UNESCO next year.

A. This proposed serial world heritage nomination includes Pinnacle Point, a Provincial Heritage Site situated within the Mossel Bay Municipality. This nomination is a serial nomination ie: consisting of a number of sites that contribute to the knowledge around the origin of modern humans.

B. The motivation as included in the Introduction to the Draft Nomination can be summarised as follows:

“Homo sapiens, ancestors of all modern people, emerged about 200 000 years ago. Debates around the origin of these anatomically modern humans and the modernity of their behaviour are crucial to understanding the history of all modern people. The South African sites; Blombos, Border Cave, Diepkloof, Klasies River, Pinnacle Point and Sibudu Cave have contributed outstanding evidence for palaeo-environmental conditions via the rich mid to Late Pleistocene African mammal fauna with a number of species now extinct, as well as extensive other palaeoenvironmental data from well-dated stratigraphic horizons. Evidence in artefacts such as stone tools, in indications of pigment use and hearths has been interpreted as showing the occupants made significant social, behavioural and technical innovations. Blombos has some of the earliest evidence for symbolic behaviour. Klasies River main site, Blombos, Pinnacle Point and other sites provide some of the earliest evidence for the systematic use of marine resources in the last Interglacial. Border Cave and Klasies River have remains of early anatomically modern humans. As a  group, these sites have been vital to our understanding of the origin of anatomically modern humans and their modern cognitive abilities.”

(Draft World Heritage Nomination Dossier, HWC, 2014)

C. In order for a nomination to be presented to the World Heritage Committee of UNESCO, the following must be completed:

• A Nomination Dossier must be drafted
• Each proposed site must be formally protected in terms of National legislation
• Each proposed site must have a formally identified buffer zone with specific development guidelines (ie. buffer zones must be created)
• Each proposed site must have a comprehensive Conservation Management Plan
• Each proposed site must have a Management Authority
• All the sites must have one combined Conservation Management Plan that pulls the individual management plans together

HWC is working towards drafting a nomination dossier, inclusive of boundaries, buffer zones and CMP’s, for submission to the DEA for the 2016 deadline. If all goes well, the nomination will then proceed to the World Heritage Committee in 2017 for a decision in 2018. Heritage Western Cape is currently drafting the dossier and developing CMP’s for the sites within the Western Cape.

D. Heritage Western Cape is the lead provincial agent in this project.  The finances available to it for inclusion of Pinnacle Point in the nomination process are as follows:

• It has funds available on its budget for the present financial year to review the existing management plan for the site.
• The Mossel Bay Municipality has offered to assist in funding the creation of a buffer zone and a meeting to discuss this with HWC has been set for 20 November 2014.