These distinctions are often blurred a bone removed from an animal carcass is a biofact but a bone carved into a useful implement is an artefact. Examples include seashells moved inland or rounded pebbles placed away from the water action that made them.Ĭurmsun Disc - Obverse, Jomsborg, 980s, Burial site of king Harald Bluetooth Natural objects that humans have moved but not changed are called manuports. Ecofacts, also referred to as biofacts, are objects of archaeological interest made by other organisms, such as seeds or animal bone. Stratigraphic features are non-portable remains of human activity that include hearths, roads, deposits, trenches and similar remains. Īrtefacts are distinguished from stratigraphic features and ecofacts. Artefacts exist in both contexts, and this is taken into account during the analysis of them. ![]() However, the matrix and provenience are changed by transformational processes when referring to secondary context. When an artefact is found in the realm of primary context, the matrix and provenience have not been changed by transformational processes. A matrix is a physical setting within which an artefact exists, and a provenience refers to a specific location within a matrix. The context of an artefact can be broken into two categories: primary context and secondary context. Both of these processes are significant factors in evaluating the context of an artefact. Transformational processes begin at the end of behavioural processes this is when the artefact is changed by nature and/or humans after it has been deposited. ![]() A behavioural process involves acquiring raw materials, manufacturing these for a specific purpose and then discarding after use. ![]() However, the process of analyzing artifacts through scientific archaeology can be hindered by the looting and collecting of artifacts, which sparks ethical debate.Ī Crusading Period spoon from 1017 that was found on archaeological excavation of Tursiannotko in Pirkkala, Finland.Īrtefacts exist as a result of behavioural and transformational processes. A wide variety of analyses take place to analyze artifacts and provide information on them. They can also exist in different types of context depending on the processes that have acted on them over time. The same item may be called all or any of these in different contexts, and more specific terms will be used when talking about individual objects, or groups of similar ones.Īrtifacts exist in many different forms and can sometimes be confused with ecofacts and features all three of these can sometimes be found together at archaeological sites. In archaeology, the word has become a term of particular nuance and is defined as an object recovered by archaeological endeavor, which may be a cultural artifact having cultural interest.Īrtifact is the general term used in archaeology, while in museums the equivalent general term is normally "object", and in art history perhaps artwork or a more specific term such as "carving". ![]() Mycenaean stirrup jar from Ras Shamra ( Ugarit) Syria, 1400–1300 BCĪn artifact, or artefact (see American and British English spelling differences), is a general term for an item made or given shape by humans, such as a tool or a work of art, especially an object of archaeological interest.
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