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Artefacts
Artefacts are objects that have been made and used by humans. This broad category covers anything from a simple
pebble picked for its perfect roundness to be used as a sling-shot, to complex manufactured objects such as fine
ornamental jewellery, machinery or furniture. Except in cases where a natural object, such as the sling-shot, can
serve a function without modification, artefacts are 'worked' - they are modified, shaped, heated, structured and
decorated by humans.
When artefacts are discovered in excavations or surveys, they are usually termed 'finds'. People today discover
artefacts that have been lost, discarded, hidden, deliberately deposited or just simply abandoned by people in the
past. Studying the manufacture, use, re-use and patterns of discard of artefacts can help archaeologists understand
aspects of past societies such as agriculture, trade and belief systems.
Since the recognition nearly two hundred years ago that worked stone tools are associated with traces of a very
early human presence, archaeologists have developed a vast and complex understanding of how artefacts have
reflected the history of human culture. Natural materials such as stone, flint, bone and wood were used to create
the earliest artefacts, but of course these materials have remained in use ever since. New materials requiring
manufacturing skills and raw materials, such as metals, pottery and glass, have been introduced as technology has
changed over the centuries.
Artefacts have been divided and classified into thousands of types and sub-types, based on function, date,
technology and decorative styles. For some artefacts, such as coins, the known types are extremely detailed and can
be used to identify an example very accurately. There are far too many categories of artefacts for any individual
to know all of them in detail. Experts study artefacts of one type or period in depth and then identify and
interpret new discoveries. Finds can be used to date layers on excavations, if the archaeologist is sure that they
belong to that general period of activity on the site (this is usually because there are other similar finds in
related deposits). These are called 'stratified' artefacts. Where an artefact has been dug up and re-deposited
later in the history of the site (such as a piece of Roman pottery which became mixed up with Medieval midden
material), it is called a 'residual' artefact.
Learn more about Conservation, or return to Evidence.
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