Cultural heritage is the legacy of physical artefacts and intangible attributes of a group or society that are inherited from past generations, maintained in the present and bestowed for the benefit of future generations.  

Tangible heritage includes buildings and historic places, monuments, artifacts, etc., which are considered worthy of preservation for the future.  These include objects significant to the archaeology, architecture, science or technology of a specific culture.  

Objects are important to the study of human history because they provide a concrete basis for ideas, and can validate them.  Their preservation demonstrates recognition of the necessity of the past and of the things that tell its story.  Preserved objects also validate memories; and the actuality of the object, as opposed to a reproduction or surrogate, draws people in and gives them a literal way of touching the past.  This unfortunately poses a danger as places and things are damaged by the hands of tourists, the light required to display them, and other risks of making an object known and available.  

The reality of this risk reinforces the fact that all artifacts are in a constant state of chemical transformation, so that what is considered to be preserved is actually changing – it is never as it once was. Similarly changing is the value each generation may place on the past and on the artifacts that link it to the past.