When talking about heritage, it can refer to inheritance, the traditional canon of cultural assets, or biological inheritance. In all cases, it involves transfers from generation to generation, where continuity and change exist in a tense relationship. The chapters of the book examine important milestones in the cultural, legal, religious, and knowledge history of heritage from the Middle Ages to the present. The focus is on the divide between the pre-modern and modern eras. This gives the current interest in heritage a historical depth: What models of kinship underlie modern inheritance law? Why is it believed that future generations will be interested in what is defined as cultural heritage? And how can the cultural contribution to biological inheritance be determined in light of new developments in epigenetics?.