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This chapter is a presentation of the book, as a history of some of the uses of history that have been documented in the Western world across several millennia. It discusses existential matter, methods, aims and layout, theorizes the nature of understanding and of explanation, and situates the fields of classics and of heritage studies.

Chapter 2 investigates sociopolitical needs and precedents for history expressed through buildings--archaeological and architectural sites where needs for a documented past can be seen as a driving force behind monuments. Topics covered include the following: the use of tombs to claim land in prehistory: Bronze Age cases from Denmark, Sardinia (Italy) and Greece; a brief history of relevant aspects of the Greek “Dark Age”; a discussion of the significance of the dead body and present-day tombs of “the unknown soldier”; the case of Abraham’s land claim in Genesis; monumentalized land claims in protohistory: the Iron Age case of the Argive Heraion in Greece, and a discussion the theme of fabrication; the proactive re-use of old monuments in ancient and medieval times: the cases of Constantinople and Rome, and a discussion of the nature and meaning of spoliation (and of quotation); present-day “readings” of historic spolia-buildings: the cases of the churches of Ayia Triada/Merbaka and the Little Metropolis in Greece; and a discussion of metaphorical “play-worlds” and their meaning for human existence.

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