Provenance on the object, or an account of it in written materials from the same era, an object of study in archaeology or cultural anthropology may have an early provenance – a known history that predates modern research – then a provenience from its modern finding, and finally a continued provenance relating to its handling and storage or display after the modern acquisition. Evidence of provenance in the more general sense can be of importance in archaeology. Fakes are not unknown, and finds are sometimes removed from the context in which they were found without documentation, reducing their value to science.
Means to an end something leading into something else, thus it is an end in itself. Means to an end In philosophy, the term "means to an end" refers to any action (the means) carried out for the sole purpose of achieving something else (an end). It can be thought of as a metaphysical distinction as no empirical information differentiates actions that are means to ends from those that are not—that are "ends in themselves". It has been inferred that all actions are means to other ends—this is relevant when considering the meaning of life. Immanuel Kant's theory of morality, the categorical imperative, states