artefact
Excavated historical item
An artefact is an object made or modified by humans, especially one of historical or archaeological interest: The museum displayed artefacts from the Bronze Age.
In technical contexts, an artefact is an unintended byproduct of a process—a flaw in an image, a glitch in data, or an anomaly in an experiment that doesn't reflect reality.
This is the British spelling; Americans write artifact.
Preserved ancient object
- antiquityGreat age, ancient era
- remnantWhat stays after most goes
- vestigeFaint surviving trace
- heirloomInherited family treasure
bygone · timeless · ancestral · venerable · archaic · age-old · olden · forgotten
Device for a task
- implementTool or enact
- instrumentDevice for specific tasks
- utensilTool for cooking
- deviceConstructed tool or machine
apparatus · vessel · container · weapon · ornament · jewelry · coin · tablet
Ceremonial set of actions
- ceremonialRelating to formal rites
- sacredWorthy of reverence
- religiousOf faith or worship
- symbolicRepresenting through signs
votive · funerary · totemic · talisman · amulet · idol · fetish · offering
Act of unearthing
- digUnearth by shoveling
- siteDesignated location
- stratigraphyStudy of rock layers
- potsherdFragment of earthenware
trench · survey · context · provenience · shard · fragment · pottery · ceramics
Created manually, not mechanically
- artisanalMade by skilled craftspeople
- sculptedShaped into art
- carvedCut to create form
- wovenInterlaced on loom
forged · blown · glazed · stitched · hammered · molded · etched · embroidered
Of the Middle Ages
- NeolithicFinal prehistoric stone-tool era
- RomanOf ancient Italy's capital
- EgyptianRelating to the pharaohs' land
- MesopotamianOf the two-rivers land
Viking · Byzantine · colonial · precolonial · dynasty · civilization · empire · era
relic
Preserved ancient object
heirloom · bygone · timeless · ancestral · venerable · archaic · age-old · olden · forgotten · prehistoric
tool
Device for a task
- implementTool or enact
- instrumentDevice for specific tasks
- utensilTool for cooking
device · apparatus · vessel · container · weapon · ornament · jewelry · coin · tablet · scroll
ritual
Ceremonial set of actions
- ceremonialRelating to formal rites
- sacredWorthy of reverence
- religiousOf faith or worship
symbolic · votive · funerary · totemic · talisman · amulet · idol · fetish · offering · regalia
excavation
Act of unearthing
- digUnearth by shoveling
- siteDesignated location
- stratigraphyStudy of rock layers
potsherd · trench · survey · context · provenience · shard · fragment · pottery · ceramics · conservation
handmade
Created manually, not mechanically
woven · forged · blown · glazed · stitched · hammered · molded · etched · embroidered · thrown
medieval
Of the Middle Ages
- NeolithicFinal prehistoric stone-tool era
- RomanOf ancient Italy's capital
- EgyptianRelating to the pharaohs' land
Mesopotamian · Viking · Byzantine · colonial · precolonial · dynasty · civilization · empire · era · epoch
- archaeologyexcavation, dig site, archaeologist, dig, archaeological digs
artefactnatural object
Thing occurring in nature
natural formation · nature · natural phenomenon · organic matter · raw material