This is one of the most difficult challenges facing stewards of the heritage. To care effectively for a place, one must understand and articulate its values. The benefits derived from a site can be understood to be the positive effects on the community, culture, national image, and so forth. Sites can also have potential benefits, such as the knowledge that can be obtained through further scientific investigation, or educational opportunities that can be created through the presentation and interpretation of the site to visitors. Both current and potential benefits should be taken into consideration in the care of a site.
Educational value is the common ground among most constituencies.
A site can provide lessons in history, cultural expression, art, architecture, societal development, and conflict. However, throughout most of the world, the interpretation and presentation of archaeological sites to the public are woefully underdeveloped in both theory and practice. Sites that lack information for visitors are not easily understood by nonspecialists. Interpretation and presentation must be accepted as obligations to the visitor, not just as a means of attracting more tourists. In recent years, some countries in the Mediterranean region have begun to use funds derived from tourism for the study, conservation, and presentation of heritage sites.