Historians struggle to find clothing worn by enslaved people because it was used to oblivion. Furthermore, 19th-century institutions had no interest in preserving such items, prioritizing artifacts from powerful figures. This reveals a systemic bias in what a society chooses to archive and remember.

In a ruthless political move, Atahualpa directed the gold-hungry Spanish to loot two of the empire's most sacred temples. Both were located in regions loyal to his civil war rival, Huascar, effectively using the invaders as a tool to punish his internal enemies.

Thieves who steal high-profile items like the Louvre's jewels have an alternative to breaking them down: selling them to adversarial nations. A country like North Korea or a figure like Vladimir Putin could acquire and display the items publicly, using them as a political tool to mock France.

Gilded Age industrialists funded grand public museums to justify their extreme wealth. By providing cultural institutions for the working class, they aimed to improve their public image and divert attention from the vast wealth gap their practices created.

Historical records are inherently biased. The powerful and literate create and preserve evidence, while the stories of the oppressed are often lost. Any project aiming for a true historical account, such as a collection of objects, must actively seek the scant evidence left by the powerless to repair this "asymmetry of the historical record."

The Spanish conquest was characterized by the systematic destruction of Inca art. Rather than preserving priceless golden artifacts like llamas and flowers, they melted them into standardized bars for easy shipment and accounting. This reflects a colonial mindset that prioritizes raw monetary value over cultural and artistic significance.

Contrary to modern narratives, historical writings from colonized peoples, such as Egyptians in the 1800s, praised the colonial period for bringing advancements in science, technology, and medicine, viewing it as a time of progress.

Beyond physical destruction, the Romans committed cultural annihilation. They seized and dispersed Carthage's libraries, which held its rich literary and historical tradition. By preserving only a single farming manual, Rome ensured that future generations would only ever hear the conqueror's version of events.

Despite building a massive, highly organized empire, the Incas had no written language. This means nearly everything known about their history and culture was recorded by the Spanish after the conquest. Their entire legacy is therefore filtered through the lens of their destroyers, creating a fundamentally biased historical record.