Siân Jones is Professor of Heritage at the University of Stirling, UK.

Thomas Yarrow is Professor in Social Anthropology at Durham University, UK.

The Object of Conservation examines how historic buildings, monuments and artefacts are cared for as valued embodiments of the past. It tells the fascinating story of the working lives of those involved in conservation through an ethnographic account of a national heritage agency.

Introduction; Part I: People; 1. Present Pasts; 2. Working from the Past; 3. Organising Knowledge; 4. Subjects as Objects; 5. Life and Work; Part II: Things; 6. (Dis)Ordered Things; 7. Crafting Authenticity through Skilled Practice; 8. Material Transformation and Scientific Conservation; 9. Significance, Faith and Care; Conclusion: Working through the Past.