This part introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters. The part focuses on the disputed significance of some element of material culture where one group wishes to re-interpret an object in a way that makes more explicit the complex and difficult circumstances surrounding its acquisition and subsequent display. It shows that heritage is performed and can be found in the interactions between people who all connect in some way to a specifically difficult and contested past. However, what is difficult or contested may not always be something that happened in the past. Much heritage is less contested than deeply embarrassing to those who come after and may cause grief to some and fear and loathing to others. Community groups and nation states often mobilise heritage to support their political views. All heritages are political and some nations' ideas of heritage are very different from those of others.