An artifact or artefact is "something made
or given shape by man, such as a tool or a
work of art, esp an object of archaeological
interest".
"Artifact" is the only spelling in American
English, but other varieties of English also
accept "artefact".
In archaeology, where they are used, an artifact
is an object recovered by archaeological endeavor,
which may have a cultural interest.
However, modern archaeologists take care to
distinguish between material culture with
ethnicity, which is often more complex.
This was expressed famously by Carol Kramer
in the dictum "pots are not people".
Examples include stone tools, pottery vessels,
metal objects such as weapons, and items of
personal adornment such as buttons, jewelry
and clothing.
Bones that show signs of human modification
are also examples.
Natural objects, such as fire cracked rocks
from a hearth or plant material used for food,
are classified by archeologists as ecofacts
rather than as artifacts.
Sources
Artifacts can come from any archaeological
context or source such as:
Buried along with a body
From any feature such as a midden or other
domestic setting
Votive offerings
Hoards, such as at wells
Artifacts are distinguished from the main
body of the archaeological record such as
stratigraphic features, which are non-portable
remains of human activity, such as hearths,
roads, deposits, trenches or similar remains,
and from biofacts or ecofacts, which are objects
of archaeological interest made by other organisms,
such as seeds or animal bone.
Natural objects which have been moved but
not changed by humans are called manuports.
Examples would include seashells moved inland
or rounded pebbles placed away from the water
action that would have fashioned them.
These distinctions are often blurred: for
instance, a bone removed from an animal carcass
is a biofact, but a bone carved into a useful
implement is an artifact.
Similarly there can be debate over early stone
objects which may be crude artifacts or which
may be naturally occurring phenomena that
only appear to resemble early objects used
by early humans or homo sapiens.
It can be difficult to distinguish the differences
between actual man-made lithic artifacts and
geofacts – naturally occurring lithics which
resemble man-made tools.
It is possible to authenticate artifacts by
examining the general characteristics which
are attributed to man-made tools and the local
characteristics attributed to the site.
See also
Notes
External
Artifact Collection at the Royal Military
College of Canada Museum in Kingston, Ontario
