ABSTRACT
Terms like ‘our past’ and ‘heritage’, both denoting some form of ownership, are commonly used with reference to the study and presentation of prehistory. To whose past, however, do we refer? The notion that history in some way belongs to, or is a concern of, ordinary people is not, of course, new, but it is a new development for them to wish to take control of their own past, and thereby their present and their future.
