ABSTRACT
For those engaged in studying heritage, the notion of the ‘heritage site’ presents one of the most fundamental paradoxes in the discipline. On the one hand heritage sites are highly familiar spaces that tend to be readily recognised; on the other, after nearly twenty years our understanding of just what heritage sites ‘do’ and how they ‘work’ remains incomplete. This is not for lack of trying. Over the past twenty years considerable effort has been directed to investigating the myriad of places that fall under the heading of ‘heritage site’. Yet, despite a widespread and almost innate familiarity with these places, a number of fundamental questions continue to be unanswered.
