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 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 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
*
Cultural icon
*
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
Category:Anthropology
Category:Museology
Artifact
Category:Sociological terminology