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History vocabulary · Archaeology Basics

Artifact

Meaning in history, with examples

/ˈɑːtɪfækt/nounCore term

In history, artifact means: An object made or shaped by people, such as a tool, coin, weapon or piece of jewellery, especially one studied for what it reveals about the past.

In Turkish: eser, buluntu, arkeolojik obje

How it is used

Used in archaeology, museums and history teaching. Artifacts are found, recovered, catalogued, dated and displayed. Archaeologists contrast them with ecofacts (natural remains such as seeds) and features (things that cannot be moved, such as walls or hearths).

Example sentences

  1. More than two thousand artifacts were recovered from the shipwreck.

  2. Each artifact is photographed and numbered before it leaves the trench.

Common collocations

  • ancient artifacts
  • recover artifacts
  • a museum artifact
  • cultural artifacts
  • date an artifact
  • archaeologyThe study of the human past through the material remains people left behind, such as buildings, tools, pottery, bones and traces in the soil.
  • excavationThe careful digging and recording of an archaeological site to uncover buildings, objects and other remains in the order in which they were buried.
  • provenanceThe origin of a document or object and the record of who has owned or kept it since it was made, used to judge whether it is genuine and lawfully held.
  • archaeological siteA place where evidence of past human activity has been found or preserved, such as the remains of a settlement, cemetery, temple or workshop.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Archaeology Basics

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