People
The population consists of settled Shona-speaking peasant communities indigenous to these areas for as long back as oral traditions can tell. Family households are normally clustered into villages with a highly developed sense of community. Kinship and marriage play a vital role in fostering social cohesion. The traditional hierarchy of authority comprising the village head, headman and chief (in ascending order of authority and territorial jurisdiction) is still highly respected. Shona customs and social behaviour in this area are steeped in local traditions and belief systems.

The development and change of the cultural landscape due to human exploitation of their surrounding environment are questions being dealt with in environmental archaeology. Information is found in the bio-geochemical material extractable by various methods. Prospection and land use studies should be performed prior to settlement excavations.

Languages
National or official language: English. 11,377,000 (1998 UN). Literacy rate 49% to 76%. Also includes Afrikaans, Gujarati 19,000, people from Europe 90,000, possibly Bemba. Information mainly from J. Bendor-Samuel 1989. Christian, traditional religion, secular, Muslim. Blind population 15,000 (1982 WCE). Deaf institutions: 6. Data accuracy estimate: A2, B. The number of languages listed for Zimbabwe is 20. Of those, 19 are living languages and 1 is a second language without mother tongue speakers. Diversity index 0.56.

Rituals
Nyau mask dancing is performed in the village communities at funerals and initiations. Thus it accompanies two of the most important occasions in a person’s life, and serves to reassure the community of their rules and traditions. Nyau masks always entail a double representation: they depict aspects of mythical, historical, and social experiences just as they recall these experiences, yet they are also bound to the concrete individual behind the mask. As the nyau ritual is regarded to take place outside the normal moral and judicial bounds, it allows for tension release and the voicing of dissent.

Modern Art
Following World War II and decolonization African artists have produced an impressive variety of works. This new art of the ancient continent continued as well as changed the old traditions. Yet it also created something completely new, something without precedence either in Africa or the rest of the world. Often these specific genres of art developed in conflict with western culture – first the colonial metropolitan centres, then western culture in general. In spite of the presaged extinction of an independent African art the artists have met the challenges encountered by them with creative and expressive responses.


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