diff --git a/lisp/org-element.el b/lisp/org-element.el
index b0fbbe2a7..a14b9a41d 100644
--- a/lisp/org-element.el
+++ b/lisp/org-element.el
@@ -5812,6 +5812,30 @@ Providing it allows for quicker computation."
 	   ;; Store results in cache, if applicable.
 	   (org-element--cache-put element cache)))))))
 
+(defun org-element-lineage (blob &optional types with-self)
+  "List all BLOB's ancestors, including BLOB.
+
+BLOB is an object or element.
+
+When optional argument TYPES is a list of symbols, return the
+first element or object in the lineage whose type belongs to that
+list.
+
+When optional argument WITH-SELF is non-nil, lineage includes
+BLOB itself as the first element and TYPES, if provided, also
+apply to it.
+
+When BLOB is obtained through `org-element-context' or
+`org-element-at-point', only ancestors from its section can be
+found.  There is no such limitation when BLOB belongs to a full
+parse tree."
+  (let ((up (if with-self blob (org-element-property :parent blob)))
+	ancestors)
+    (while (and up (not (memq (org-element-type up) types)))
+      (unless types (push up ancestors))
+      (setq up (org-element-property :parent up)))
+    (if types up (nreverse ancestors))))
+
 (defun org-element-nested-p (elem-A elem-B)
   "Non-nil when elements ELEM-A and ELEM-B are nested."
   (let ((beg-A (org-element-property :begin elem-A))
diff --git a/testing/lisp/test-org-element.el b/testing/lisp/test-org-element.el
index 7f7c9cb9d..bf031ac7b 100644
--- a/testing/lisp/test-org-element.el
+++ b/testing/lisp/test-org-element.el
@@ -3253,6 +3253,52 @@ Text
 	 (org-element-type (org-element-context))))))
 
 
+
+;;; Test Tools
+
+(ert-deftest test-org-element/lineage ()
+  "Test `org-element-lineage' specifications."
+  ;; Regular tests.  When applied to an element or object returned by
+  ;; `org-element-at-point' or `org-element-context', the list is
+  ;; limited to the current section.
+  (should
+   (equal '(paragraph center-block)
+	  (org-test-with-temp-text
+	      "* H1\n** H2\n#+BEGIN_CENTER\n*bold<point>*\n#+END_CENTER"
+	    (mapcar #'car (org-element-lineage (org-element-context))))))
+  (should
+   (equal '(paragraph center-block section headline headline org-data)
+	  (org-test-with-temp-text
+	      "* H1\n** H2\n#+BEGIN_CENTER\n*bold<point>*\n#+END_CENTER"
+	    (mapcar #'car
+		    (org-element-lineage
+		     (org-element-map (org-element-parse-buffer) 'bold
+		       #'identity nil t))))))
+  ;; Test TYPES optional argument.
+  (should
+   (eq 'center-block
+       (org-test-with-temp-text
+	   "* H1\n** H2\n#+BEGIN_CENTER\n*bold<point>*\n#+END_CENTER"
+	 (org-element-type
+	  (org-element-lineage (org-element-context) '(center-block))))))
+  (should-not
+   (org-test-with-temp-text
+       "* H1\n** H2\n#+BEGIN_CENTER\n*bold<point>*\n#+END_CENTER"
+     (org-element-lineage (org-element-context) '(example-block))))
+  ;; Test WITH-SELF optional argument.
+  (should
+   (equal '(bold paragraph center-block)
+	  (org-test-with-temp-text
+	      "* H1\n** H2\n#+BEGIN_CENTER\n*bold<point>*\n#+END_CENTER"
+	    (mapcar #'car (org-element-lineage (org-element-context) nil t)))))
+  ;; When TYPES and WITH-SELF are provided, the latter is also checked
+  ;; against the former.
+  (should
+   (org-test-with-temp-text
+       "* H1\n** H2\n#+BEGIN_CENTER\n*bold<point>*\n#+END_CENTER"
+     (org-element-lineage (org-element-context) '(bold) t))))
+
+
 
 ;;; Test Cache.