Introduction and Definition
In its most literal form, intangible cultural heritage (ICH) can be defined as heritage that has no material form, such as a belief system transferred through word of mouth, like a song of creation or a language without written form. However, the destruction of tangible heritage physical can have an effect on these more ephemeral heritages (for instance, landscape cues used in the singing about the creation of the land, local mountains, and river bends) and leaves the stories more open to dispute. In such ways the intangible is directly connected to the tangible.
The emergence and relevance of ICH is linked to philosophical traditions such as those of Bourdieu, Heidegger, and Merleau-Ponty that eventually found their way into archaeology and anthropology in the twentieth century. This more holistic approach toward cultural heritage and its management grew out of the interpretative tradition. Specifically, the part is understood within the whole from which...
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References
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Further Reading
Kato, K. 2006. Community, connection and conservation: intangible cultural values in natural heritage - the case of Shirakami-sanchi World Heritage Area. International Journal of Heritage Studies 12(5): 458–73.
Larsen, K.E. (ed.) 1994. The Nara conference on authenticity in relation to the World Heritage Convention. Trondheim: Tapir Publishers.
Tokoro, I. 2001. The Grand Shrine of Ise: the preservation by removal and renewal. in I. Serageldin & E. Shluger et al. (ed.) Historical cities and sacred sites: cultural roots for urban futures: 22–9. Washington (DC): International Bank for Reconstruction/World Bank.
UNESCO. 2001. First proclamation of Masterpieces of The Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity. Paris: UNESCO.
Acknowledgements
I wish to give special thanks to the section editors for the continuous contact and support, especially George Smith and Ian Russell. Very importantly I wish to offer great thanks to my colleague, Philip Verhagen of CLUE, Faculty of Arts, VU University Amsterdam, who offered advice and assistance in the editing of this piece. Naturally any remaining errors are my own.
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Higginbottom, G. (2014). Intangible Cultural Heritage. In: Smith, C. (eds) Encyclopedia of Global Archaeology. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-0465-2_1142
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