Can we submit oral history? There's an Etruscan site in Tuscany called Poggio Civitate where nobody had really lived on this hill for thousands of years (it goes back to about 2700bc). But the local residents continually called this hill Poggio Civitate (hill of the civilization/city) the entire time along with rumors of gold up there and had this oral memory kept alive until am archaeologist went up there with an old farmer in the 60s and started to find things. Nobody knew why it was called that, but it turned into one of the biggest building structures in the entire Mediterranean area for the time period. 40 years on, and it's still being dug up.

Does the Cup of the Ptolemies qualify?

I like the idea of a roman artifact (and quite a nice one) becoming in the Middle-Ages one of the features of the kings' crowning ceremony. It managed to survive the French Revolution in one piece (it lost its medieval gold mounting after that though) and is today exhibited in the Cabinet des Médailles et Antiques of the National Library.

I like it because it is a good example of how an object can be used a very long time but have its use and its signification changed (the carving on it evokes a dionysian ceremony, but it had probably a completely different sense in the Middle-Ages).

Well, I suppose in a non-physical sense, the books the Iliad, Odyssey, and the Epic of Gilgamesh have been in human possession for millennia. In a more physical sense, the Iron Crown of Lombardy is very old, as well as the blade of the sword Joyeuse (though the hilt and pommel have been replaced). I suppose both of those are just Early Middle Ages, but still. The location of Karnak has been known for millennia as well, even though it was uninhabited for quite a while. The stone at Mecca is rather old as well, if one subscribes to the Islamic faith it has been there since Adam and Eve (ie the beginning for the followers of Abrahamic faiths).

Well, my first instinct is to say the Torah. It's been around for thousands of years, hasn't been subjected to the changes the Bible has, and is still written in pretty much the same fashion today.

I don't know if that's against any rules, but considering it's a religious text, I'd say there are quite a few people of the Jewish faith that hold the Torah quite close to their heart.

In one of the ballcourts at Los Guachimontones, I think it is the one at Loma Alta, the excavators found a bowl buried as an offering. In the bowl was a Paleoindian point and if I recall correctly, it was Folsom point.

Excuse me if this is against the rules, but couldn't most of human civilisation fit into this? I mean, the extra, hanging-on bits like rituals and institutions - things we've found so compelling we've kept them close for many, many years.

Note: this is not supposed to be a criticism or trying to be clever, it just made me think is all.