Provenances record the ownership and possession history of cultural property. They form the basis for the restitution of unlawfully acquired objects and are therefore also central to coming to terms with the past. At the same time, the growing number of provenances being researched and published by museums represents a potential source for academic research. The people and institutions, locations and changes of ownership and possession listed in them point to social networks, but also to historical trends in the art trade, the history of taste or the physical and intellectual appropriation of cultural assets. Digital and AI-supported methods can support provenance research and thus also restitution efforts and open up the previously untapped potential of provenances for science.