A Line in the Sand? Explorations of the Cultural Heritage Value of Hominid, Pongid and Robotid Artifacts

Although cultural heritage management is an inherently retrospective discipline, there is a need for strategic forward thinking. Too many valuable heritage places have been lost because they are not recognised and assessed in time. This paper takes strategic thinking in cultural heritage management one step further and addresses the management of artifactual material created by our closest relatives, the Great Apes. Given the increasing understanding that Chimpanzees have cultures and traditions in tool use, there is a need to recognise their heritage value in reference to human evolution.Expanding the concept of non-human heritage into the future, it is now also time to explore how we are going to deal with the artefacts that the first artificial intelligence-imbued, self-reflecting robots will create. By extension, we need to consider which artefacts will be kept along the way. The contemplation of the role of non-human heritage will ultimately foster a re-appraisal of human heritage. The paper outlines some of the conceptual issues that need to be addressed if our heritage is to have an ethical future.