Ancient monument

For other uses, see Ancient monument (disambiguation).
Stonehenge is one of the most famous prehistoric monuments.

An ancient monument can refer to any early or historical manmade structure or architecture.[1] Certain ancient monuments are of cultural importance for nations and become symbols of international recognition, including the ruins of Baalbek on Lebanese currency, the Angkor Wat on Cambodian currency and the Great Wall of China on the Chinese currency.[2] There are some countries that display ancient buildings as symbols on their coats of arms as a way to affirm national identity.[3] In this way, ancient monuments in the modern world are used as icons to represent a country. The importance of ancient monuments extends to cultural heritage and how the people of a nation or city identify themselves.[4]

In British law, an ancient monument is an early historical structure or monument (e.g. an archaeological site) worthy of preservation and study due to archaeological or heritage interest. The Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979 classified ancient monuments as "scheduled monuments" or monuments that are considered by the Secretary of State of archaeological, historical or artistic importance.[5]

  1. ^ Priwer, Shana; Phillips, Cynthia (2014). Ancient Monuments. Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge. p. 88.
  2. ^ Timothy, Dallen J. (2020). Cultural Heritage and Tourism: An Introduction (Vol. 7). Bristol, UK: Channel View Publications. p. 377.
  3. ^ Timothy, Dallen J. (2020). Cultural Heritage and Tourism: An Introduction (Vol. 7). Bristol, UK: Channel View Publications. p. 378.
  4. ^ Jokilehto, Jukka (1998). "International Trends in Historic Preservation: From Ancient Monuments to Living Cultures". APT Bulletin. 29 (3/4): 18. doi:10.2307/1504606. ISSN 0848-8525. JSTOR 1504606.
  5. ^ Emerick (2014), p. 111.