Tangible Heritage in Archaeology

Introduction and Definition

The term tangible heritage refers in general to all the material traces such as archaeological sites, historical monuments, artifacts, and objects that are significant to a community, a nation, or/and humanity. The term is often used to distinguish such heritage elements from “intangible heritage,” recognized by UNESCO in 2003, to refer to practices, representations, expressions, knowledge skills, as well as instruments, objects, artifacts, and cultural spaces associated therewith of living communities. The term “intangible heritage” replaced what was referred to in an earlier UNESCO document in 1989 as traditional culture and folklore. The designation of an intangible category of heritage led to the distinction of varieties of “material” archaeological and historical elements of heritage – “tangible heritage.”

In the UNESCO 1972 convention, what is now called tangible heritage included monuments, sites, and buildings. This designation goes back to the...