Importance of Artifacts in Interpreting Social, Cultural, Political, and Economic Processes

UCSP

Are objects made or modified by humans in the past. They were recovered through archaeological endeavor or by chance. Apart from serving as windows to the past, artifacts are also deemed significant because they are tangible, authentic proof that a certain period in history occurred.

Artifacts

Artifacts have significant contributions in interpreting the

Social, cultural, political, and economic processes of past periods.

The discovery of artifacts and the understanding of various processes has provided a stable foundation for the ______, _____, ________, that humans have come to recognize today.

Socio-economic, political, and cultural growth.

Some examples of how artifacts impacted sociopolitical, cultural, and economic processes.

Economic, Political, Cultural, Social.

Archaeologists determined that cuneiform writing was primarily developed for long-distance trade communications and accounting income and losses during transactions.

Economic.

The Code of Hammurabi, dating back to around 3000 BC, was discovered to contain 282 laws that were set for ancient people to follow. Like today’s constitution, the Code became the supreme law of Mesopotamia back then.

Political.

In the Philippines, the Manunggul jar was believed to be the vessel to transport the dead into the afterlife. The artifact always contained on its lid a boat (balangay), a boat driver, and the soul—three symbolic figures in the journey towards nature and death.

Cultural.

In the Middle East, around 4000 years ago, nose piercing was considered a status symbol wherein the size of the ring depicted a family’s wealth. Those who have bigger nose rings were considered wealthier.

Social.

Importance of Artifact Preservation

Artifacts are irreplaceable, Artifacts are keys to understanding the past, Artifacts give people a sense of identity, The past has yet to be fully discovered.

Artifacts, being made hundreds, even thousands of years ago, are very delicate objects that cannot be replaced by any available material at the present time. Artifacts carry with them important cultural and historical meanings that no person in the present could bring back. This is the reason why many museums around the world only display replicas of material culture instead of the real ones.

Artifacts are irreplaceable.

Practices that occurred in the past would not have been known if not for the discovery of artifacts. For instance, the discovery of the bul-ol paved the way for a clearer understanding of the pre-historic Philippine burial process.

Artifacts are keys to understanding the past.

Artifacts describe culture and society. They provide people with an opportunity to further understand their identities and heritage, as well as some collective qualities that their culture may have.

Artifacts give people a sense of identity.

Despite the seemingly great successes archaeologists have made in recent years, there is still more to discover about history. Treating artifacts like pieces of puzzles will eventually provide a general picture of the past.

The past has yet to be fully discovered.

Was an English archaeologist who became well-known for his discovery of the tomb of Ancient Egyptian pharaoh Tutankhamun in November 1922. As an archaeologist, he dedicated most of his life working on Egyptian artifacts.

Howard Carter (1874 - 1939)