Nature-Culture Integration & the Mongolian Altai（2）

I was fortunate to be able to explore practical terms a concept of nature culture entanglement during the connecting practice deal with project in Mongolia. The project, the fieldwork focus on the World Heritage listed petroglyph it complex as of the Mongolia Altai. Three parts serial nomination comprising extensive rocker or rock markings as images created over a time span of more than ten thousand years. My colleagues in this work with Bas Verschuuren from IUCN in the Netherlands, from the world wildlife fund in Mongolia. The group was selected for its members, different disciplinary backgrounds, two people with expertise in cultural heritage and two with natural heritage.

And in this slide, I just tried to show the idea that, we are experts in different things. So here we have passed the sure and who is and I use an expert, but we have to think about other times of expertise. Mr Atta, who was the head of the protected area agency way of working, is an expert in the Mongolian protected area system. And also what about the vehicle driver? He has an expertise, certain expertise of the landscape. We have other Pastoral nomads, the people we were talking to who know this landscape intimately well and have expertise in for the for those of you who understand your interest in the idea of being post human. What about the horse?

The horse have an expertise and I’ll leave you to think about that one. Our task was to better understand each other’s disciplinary based practices, and explore ways to better integrate such perspectives in relation to IUCN and ICOMOS is World Heritage responsibilities. Up to this point, IUCN and ICOMOS typically but not always undertook separate evaluations of proposed World Heritage nominations for mixed science. That is, properties nominated for both the cultural and natural values and attributes, and also cultural landscapes sub category of cultural site in the World Heritage system. An anecdote may be pertinent here and I refer to this slide some degree.

So there was a moment during the field trip An anecdote may be pertinent here and I refer to this slide some degree. while a right old boy applies widely recognized for its engravings of extinct animal species, while a right old boy applies widely recognized for its engravings of extinct animal species, including rhinoceros, an ostrich, because the rocker can be difficult to say there is a risk of walking on it. At one point, I called the past to warn him that he was close to stepping on a dear motif or engraving as responded immediately telling me correctly, as it turned out, not to stand on the endangered alpine juniper plants.

It was obvious to each of us what our disciplinary guys as privileges, in my case, archaeology in past stage bio diversity. So for me the Mongolia trip was an incredible experience not just because of the challenging physical journey undertaken, but also for the collective and personal intellectual journey entailed. I want to just make three observations to illustrate these points. First, the rock marking speak to the date time, as well as contemporary relationships between humans and other animal species.

Consequently, in listing the petrographic complex of the Mongolian Altai as a cultural side and cultural landscape, physical attributes such as the rock engravings and they’re related cultural features are privileged insight management of a powerful natural attributes, including wildlife species found in its landscape. These include the very animals, such as snow leopard, ibex, and golly, sheep and domesticated horses that are represented in the rock markets. From a separating material from interconnected natural attributes misrepresents the holistic, an entangled nature of culture. In practical terms, this can lead to a disconnected management regime where cultural values deemed to be of universal value, that is, the rock art may become separated from exceptional The latter including domesticated horses, sheep.

Second, as illustrated by the locally sacred mountain of Shiveet Khairkhan shown here.

Separating a physical landscape feature from its spiritual meanings to contemporary and pass local communities is problematic. Shiveet Khairkhan is in the IUCN in terminology a sacred natural site place of rich and diverse nature that has special spiritual significance to individuals and communities. The veneration of Shiveet Khairkhan is derived from ancient shore. Manic traditions often relies into human animal interactions as well as subsequent buddhist tradition . Under such religious systems , Shiveet Khairkhan is subject to additional forms of spiritual practice and governance. For example, no man heard man do not allow hunting on the mountain of local ibex and a garlic shape.

Thus as illustrated in the case of Shiveet Khairkhan, the separation of cultural from social natural values is artificial and fails to acknowledge the powerful entanglements experience within live in landscapes. The third point I would make further emphasizing the lived in nature of landscape, Mongolia Altai has a deep time continuing tradition of nomadic early mobile parcelism is likely to be practicing this region for almost four thousand years. Evidence, for example, in the bronze age rock art. Despite the changing ethnic composition of no man heard, is over time the art or mark making traditions continued.

Though they were not necessarily continuous as evidence in changes in arts or in motifs depicted, associated with mobile pastoralism, a locally specific knowledge, skills, practices, such as hunting with eagles, practices with a history more than two thousand years old. There is also relatively new phase of rock marking taking place. Most evident that locations where named dates and copies of million year old motifs are apparent. The reasons for the renewed practice weather is place making andspiritualism are unclear. However, that illustrate the rock art no matter what age has contemporary meanings for local communities. Nevertheless the World Heritage listing, square large rock art of the past and of other people.

For me, the Mongolia Altai, I was still with amazing sides, a great deal of learning from hosts and companions, and at times feelings of sensory overload. It is a landscape that illustrates the ways in which people in place, nature, and culture are entangled. So in summary, the separation of nature and culture is illustrated in the case of the UNESCO World Heritage system, is a product of over two hundred years of western philosophy and thinking. It is an issue not only for western nations, but also for those non western nations such as China, indigenous groups, and local communities who do not have the same philosophy. I have suggested rethinking nature and culture as entangled and some way to addressing this issue.

Xie xie, thank you for your attention, and I hope you enjoyed the lecture.