Papers from a conference on interpretations of the treatment of the past, held at the University of York in May 2005. Contents: 1) The Discourse of 'The Past' (Laurajane Smith); 2) Minding the Cracks: Archaeology, the Cross-Cultural Context, and Collaboration (Wendolin Romer); 3) Rationality, Archaeology and Government Policy (James Doeser); 4) An Institutionalised Construction of the Past in the UK (Emma Waterton); 5) Telling Tales: Folklore, Archaeology and the Discovery of the Past in the Present (Darren Glazier); 6) The Cult of Community: Defining the 'Local' in Public Archaeology and Heritage Discourses (Angela McClanahan); 7) Perceptions and Preferences vs. Pounds and Policy (Camilla Priede); 8) Outreach in Action: Towards African Centred Egyptology (Yvette Balbaligo and Kenneth John); 9) Development of the Concept of Cultural Heritage on Mount Athos: Past and Present (Georgios Alexopoulos); 10) The Case of Jazirat al-Hamra: Stereotypes, Historical Investigation and Cultural Representation in the Contemporary United Arab Emirates (Ron Hawker); 11) Working With a Colonial Legacy: The Role of Foreign Archaeologists in Modern Syria (Daniel Hull); 12) Collective Memory and its Use in Ethnic Conflicts (Barbara Curran); 13) Recognition, Identity, and History: A Case for the Inclusion of Aboriginal Cultural Histories into Canadian School Curricula (Suzanne Marcuzzi); 14) The Past, the Present and the Future of Bulgaria's Heritage Sites (Gabriela Petkova-Campbell); 15) Developing and Integrating a Conflict Management Model into the Heritage Management Process: The Case of the New Acropolis Museum in Athens (Kalliopi Fouseki); 16) Roundhouse Stories Reconstruction and Public Perceptions of the Iron Age (Michelle Collings); 17) The Euro Banknote Design Discourse, or How Not to 'Mint' a (EU)ropean Post-Modern Cultural Identity (Sven Grabow); 18) Visions of Europe: Constructions of Stereotype Europe and Common 'Heritage' Landscapes (Jon Kenny).