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Cultural artifact
 
 
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A cultural artifact is a human-made object which gives information about the culture
Culture

Culture is difficult to define. For example, in 1952, Alfred Kroeber and Clyde Kluckhohn compiled a list of 164 definitions of "culture" in Culture: A Critical Review of Concepts and Definitions....
 of its creator and users. The artifact may change over time in what it represents, how it appears and how and why it is used as the culture changes over time. Usage of this term encompasses the type of archaeological artifact
Artifact (archaeology)

In archaeology, an artifact or artefact is any object made or modified by a human archaeological culture, and often one later recovered by some archaeological endeavor....
 which is recovered at archaeological site
Archaeological site

An archaeological site is a place in which evidence of past activity is preserved , and which has been, or may be, investigated using the discipline of archaeology and represents a part of the archaeological record...
s; however, man-made objects of modern society are also cultural artifacts. For example, in an anthropological context, a television
Television

Television is a widely used telecommunication mass-media for transmitting and receiving moving , either monochrome or color, usually accompanied by sound....
 is an artifact of modern culture.








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Encyclopedia


A cultural artifact is a human-made object which gives information about the culture
Culture

Culture is difficult to define. For example, in 1952, Alfred Kroeber and Clyde Kluckhohn compiled a list of 164 definitions of "culture" in Culture: A Critical Review of Concepts and Definitions....
 of its creator and users. The artifact may change over time in what it represents, how it appears and how and why it is used as the culture changes over time. Usage of this term encompasses the type of archaeological artifact
Artifact (archaeology)

In archaeology, an artifact or artefact is any object made or modified by a human archaeological culture, and often one later recovered by some archaeological endeavor....
 which is recovered at archaeological site
Archaeological site

An archaeological site is a place in which evidence of past activity is preserved , and which has been, or may be, investigated using the discipline of archaeology and represents a part of the archaeological record...
s; however, man-made objects of modern society are also cultural artifacts. For example, in an anthropological context, a television
Television

Television is a widely used telecommunication mass-media for transmitting and receiving moving , either monochrome or color, usually accompanied by sound....
 is an artifact of modern culture.

See also

  • Social artifact
    Social artifact

    Social artifact is any product of individuals or groups or of their social behavior.Artifacts are the objects or products designed and used by people to meet re-occurring needs or to solve problems....
  • Biofact
    Biofact (archaeology)

    In archaeology, a biofact is an object, found at an archaeological site and carrying archaeological significance, but previously unhanded by humans....
  • Mentifact
    Mentifact

    Mentifact is a term coined by Sir Julian Sorell Huxley, used together with the related terms "sociofact" and "Cultural artifact" to describe how cultural traits take on a life of their own, spanning over generations....
  • Art object
    Art object

    An art object is a physical object that is considered to fulfil or have fulfilled an independent and primarily aesthetic function. The possession of art objects has, since the English Licensing Act of 1662, been increasingly divorced from the possession of copyright....