The History of Heritage

The concept of Historical Cultural Heritage

Cultural heritage topic composes tangible values of a culture inherited from the past, such as physical artifacts. Cultural Heritage is a way of connecting the past and the future with current approaches. The cultural heritage societies remained preserved today and will continue passing on to future generations.

Intricate historical events are the concept of cultural heritage materialized and are in a state of constant transformation. We found the concept of cultural and natural heritage on evolving value systems. Many groups of people recognize these values. Ideas created and accepted by these various groups form various types of cultural and natural heritage (world heritage, national heritage, etc.).

Cultural heritage objects are symbols. They symbolize identities in terms of culture and nature. Connecting to and taking part in customary activities related to these objects results in togetherness. The choice of which objects, monuments or natural environments to keep dictates the future route for various cultural tales and social consensus regarding both the past and current.

The History of the Concept

The notion of cultural heritage has been shaped by a long history in which various important matters were placed on monuments, structures, artworks, artifacts, and scenery. Widespread ruin or losses of these objects caused the emergence of terms such as "outstanding universal value" and the declaration that these objects belong to “humanity”. Realizing the cultural heritage and its connection to the natural environment are one-of-a-kind and irreplaceable. The concept originated from the notion of protection or conservation.

“Antiquarian interest” the practice of gathering small objects such as artwork and other cultural artifacts. Compilations of the Late Medieval and Early Modern Period were carefully chosen or "the universe in one room" encyclopedic collections. This marked the start of a lengthy process of institutionalization. They chose based on what was valuable for the location and time of acquisition, or how rare and aesthetically pleasing the object was. The display highlighted the contemporary understanding as additional parts of the world were being discovered.

National heritage has been a major factor in this process since the 19th century. It established national museums because of this, as well as commissions or institutions for conserving monuments..

During the latter part of the 20th century, several movements, organizations and political groups, such as UNESCO, could secure the backing to protect certain elements of the national heritage, such as World Heritage and World Memory.

The World Heritage approach has its prejudices, but the gate to a more complete approach to recent heritage studies or heritage business was opened. Meanwhile, recent advancements in cultural heritage customs and the uses and abuses of the notion of cultural heritage led to a rigorous critical attitude in the situation of "heritage business". Cultural heritage has both protected values and objects and been used in nationalist movements, extremist groups, and chauvinistic organizations. Various religious or political movements have caused heritage values and objects to be destroyed and interpretations of them to be distorted, ahistoric or propagandistic in different parts of the world.

As we enter the 21st century, it has become evident that heritage should be viewed through multiple lenses, and multidisciplinary approaches and methodologies should be created and implemented on a global scale. Research into cultural heritage is a focus of many humanities, social sciences, and environmental studies. Acknowledging differences and legitimating conflicting interests is the best way to find solutions to Cultural Heritage and resource management issues.