The complex trajectories of heritage objects

In museums, objects are under constant scrutiny and surveillance. To keep and understand them, multidisciplinary teams of heritage scientists, historians and educators collaborate to unravel their physical and inherent cultural values. These scholars glean a myriad of results that, again filtered, they make available to mixtures of visitors, only a fraction of whom are acquainted with the making and meaning of the displayed objects. This chapter considers the complexities of dealing with these activities, whether hands-on or more intellectually, in relation to the complicated notions of cultural, sacred and secular values. A broad variety of philosophical and pragmatic approaches to keeping museum objects underscores how complex it can be to ensure that heritage objects can be viewed for the joy and inspiration they offer – sacred or secular – and without precluding pleasure and reflection, that they will also remain extraordinary resources for a broader understanding of civilization.