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A cultural artifact, or cultural artefact (see American and British English spelling differences), is a term used in the social sciences, particularly anthropology, ethnology and sociology for anything created by humans which gives information about the culture of its creator and users. ''Artifact'' is the spelling in North American English; ''artefact'' is usually preferred elsewhere. Cultural artifact is a more generic term and should be considered with two words of similar, but narrower, nuance: it can include objects recovered from archaeological sites, i.e. archaeological artifacts, but can also include objects of modern or early-modern society, or social artifacts. For example, in an anthropological context: a 17th-century lathe, a piece of faience, or a
television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...
each provides a wealth of information about the time in which they were manufactured and used. Cultural artifacts, whether ancient or current, have a significance because they offer an insight into: technological processes, economic development and social structure, among other attributes.


Classification

The philosopher
Marx W. Wartofsky Marx W. Wartofsky (1928–1997) was an American philosopher, specialising in historical epistemology. He was a professor of philosophy at Baruch College and the Graduate Center of the City University of New York and the editor of ''The Philosoph ...
categorised artifacts as follows:Wartofsky, Marx W. (1979). Models: Representation and scientific understanding. Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Reidel. * primary artifacts: used in production (such as a hammer, a fork, a lamp or a camera); * secondary artifacts: relating to primary artifacts (such as a user-manual for a camera); * tertiary artifacts: representations of secondary artifacts (such as a picture of a user-manual for a camera). Social artifacts, unlike archaeological artifacts, do not need to have a physical form (for example virtual artifact), nor to be of historical value (items created seconds ago can be classified as social artifacts).


See also

*
Art object A work of art, artwork, art piece, piece of art or art object is an artistic creation of aesthetic value. Except for "work of art", which may be used of any work regarded as art in its widest sense, including works from literature ...
* Cultural expressions * Cultural heritage * Cultural icon *
Cultural property Cultural property does not have a universal definition, but it is commonly considered to be tangible (physical, material) items that are part of the cultural heritage of a group or society, as opposed to less tangible cultural expressions. They in ...
* Biofact * Meme * Mentifact


References


Further reading

* Habib, Laurence, and Line Wittek (2007). The portfolio as artifact and actor. ''Mind, Culture and Activity'', Vol. 14, No. 4, .


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cultural Artifact Anthropology Museology Artifact Artifact