A future without history

This essay analyzes destruction of cultural heritage, and its impact on future archaeological research. A qualitative case study on four different events of destruction on cultural heritage to evaluate whether it can be positive or negative. It explores if this phenomenon is new or old. Hopefully, the essay also contributes to the knowledge gap that exists in today's analysis of systematic destruction of cultural heritage. First, the concept of cultural heritage and systematic destruction is analyzed. Thereafter, a variety of cases are considered to finally arrive at four different events to be analyzed. In these four different events, a case study is made that aims to contribute to a deeper understanding on destruction of culture heritage. If it contributes to something positive or negative to the people in that society, and a possible outcome on how we look back on history. The events that form the case study are the destruction of the Baalshamin Temple, the demolition of the southern state statues, the transplantation of the Abu simbel monuments from Egypt and the destruction of the Sami drums. The results found that systematic destruction of cultural heritage is a complex issue and does not have an absolute explanation. Destruction of cultural heritage usually affects archaeologists negatively as it prevents future research and results in a less nuanced image of history. Destruction of cultural heritage is usually considered negative, however, moving objects is considered to be more positive