artefact

An artefact (British spelling) or artifact (American spelling) is an object that has been made or modified by humans. In archaeology and anthropology, artefacts are recovered from sites to study past cultures and daily life, distinguishing them from natural objects or fossils. The term is also used in other disciplines to describe items created or altered for practical, aesthetic, religious, or symbolic purposes.

Artefacts span a wide range of forms, including tools, pottery, metal objects, inscriptions, clothing, and architectural fragments. They are analyzed in relation to their context within a site, as the position and association of artefacts help establish chronology, function, and cultural practices. Artefacts are contrasted with ecofacts, which are natural remains that have not been directly modified by humans.

Analysis of artefacts involves classification by shape, function, and technology, along with dating methods such as stratigraphy, typology, seriation, radiocarbon dating, and dendrochronology. Techniques like use-wear analysis, residue analysis, and comparative study of manufacturing techniques yield insights into production, trade networks, economy, and social organization.

In contemporary usage, artefact can also denote a distortion or error introduced during measurement, imaging, or data processing, such as compression artefacts in digital images or sensor artefacts in scientific instruments. Despite these additional senses, the term remains fundamental in humanities and sciences for understanding human history and culture through material remains.