Artifact

An artifact (also artefact) refers to any object or process resulting from human activity which represents things from the past. The specific meanings of the word are several:

Related Topics:
Object - Process - Human - Activity - Word

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• An artifact in archaeology
• An artifact of observation
• An artifact of fantasy
• An artifact in sociology (cultural artifact)
• An artifact in software engineering
• A compression artifact in computer science, resulting from lossy data compression
• Artifact is a name of an online multiplayer game

Artifact as defined by the Oxford English Dictionary is "anything made by human art and workmanship; an artificial product." The word artifact comes from 'ars,' meaning art and 'factum,' meaning to make.

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Artifacts in archaeology is the word "applied to the rude products of aboriginal workmanship as distinguished from natural remains." (Oxford English Dictionary).

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Artifacts found in archeological sites are also anything made or modified by a humans, which can include:

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• Lithics- objects made of stone, such as figurines
• Ceramics- objects made of clay, such as pots and bowls
• Ecofacts- Natural objects that have been used or affected by humans, such as bones, pollen, and insect remains.
• Fossils- impressions or remains of insects, humans, or animals that are usually embedded in stone (Not Dinosaurs)
• Features- a special kind of artifact that cannot be removed from an archeological site.
• hearths
• pits
• floors
• buildings

Of course, most artifacts from archeological sites are made of durable material such as clay and stone, becuase these items withstand the test of time. A lot of artifacts are the waste products of the daily life of the ancient people. Most artifacts from the Stone Age are actually stones, or the products of working on stones. Arrow heads, spear points, flakes, and projectile points are common in archeological sites from as far back as two million years ago.

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Artifacts help archeologists recreate how humans used to act in ancient times. By examining the remains of ancient people, one can determine what type of culture they had and if when they started creating art. Also, by trying to recreate how stone tools were made, archeologist have found out that it took a lot of skill and brain power to produce good enough tools to hunt. This shows that ancient humans were very smart.

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