Scientists Say: Artifact

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Artifact (noun, “AR-ti-fact”)

An artifact is thing that has been made oregon modified by humans.

In archaeology, artifacts are objects that archer america however radical of the past lived. Ancient tools, specified arsenic arrowheads oregon pottery shards, are artifacts. Human remains — specified arsenic aged bones — typically bash not number arsenic artifacts unless humans modified them. An Egyptian mummy, for example, is preserved by humans. Therefore, mummies are considered artifacts.

Scientists usage assorted methods to find the property of artifacts. Radiocarbon dating is 1 example. This method works for dating lone organic matter. That’s substance that contains c — charcoal oregon bone, for instance. The process works for objects up to astir 50,000 years old. An artifact’s property helps reply large questions. For example, the property of a farming instrumentality whitethorn bespeak erstwhile a nine began increasing crops.

Tools and jewelry recovered successful Bulgaria’s Bacho Kiro Cave are celebrated examples of artifacts. Archeologists discovered chromatic tools and pendants made from cave carnivore teeth. They besides discovered pieces of quality bone. Bone is an integrated material. So, scientists utilized radiocarbon dating to fig retired its age. They learned that the bones were astatine slightest 40,000 years old. This told them the artifacts successful the cave indispensable beryllium 40,000 years aged arsenic well.

In different fields, the connection artifact has a antithetic meaning. An artifact besides tin beryllium an unexpected uncovering that occurs arsenic a effect of however radical collected data. Such artifacts could distort information oregon could constituent to a misleading conclusion.

In biology, worldly contaminating a microscope descent is an artifact. In statistics, an artifact is not adjacent an object. Instead, it refers to problems with however the information were collected and analyzed.

In a sentence

Archeologists analyse artifacts of the Chaco Canyon to reply questions astir Native American societies.

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archaeology: (also archeology) The survey of quality past and prehistory done the excavation of sites and the investigation of artifacts and different carnal remains. Those remains tin scope from lodging materials and cooking vessels to covering and footprints. People who enactment successful this tract are known as archaeologists.

biology: The survey of surviving things. The scientists who survey them are known arsenic biologists.

carbon: A chemic constituent that is the carnal ground of each beingness connected Earth. Carbon exists freely arsenic graphite and diamond. It is an important portion of coal, limestone and petroleum, and is susceptible of self-bonding, chemically, to signifier an tremendous fig of chemically, biologically and commercially important molecules.

data: Facts and/or statistic collected unneurotic for investigation but not needfully organized successful a mode that gives them meaning. For integer accusation (the benignant stored by computers), those information typically are numbers stored successful a binary code, portrayed arsenic strings of zeros and ones.

distort: (n. distortion) To alteration the signifier oregon representation of thing successful a mode that makes it hard to recognize, oregon to alteration the cognition oregon characterization of thing (as to mislead).

field: An country of study, arsenic in: Her tract of probe is biology. Also a word to picture a real-world situation successful which immoderate probe is conducted, specified arsenic astatine sea, successful a forest, connected a mountaintop oregon connected a metropolis street. It is the other of an artificial setting, specified arsenic a probe laboratory.

microscope: An instrumentality utilized to presumption objects — specified arsenic bacteria oregon the azygous cells of plants oregon animals — that are excessively tiny to beryllium disposable to the unaided eye.

mummy: A assemblage preserved by earthy processes oregon quality technology, with immoderate tegument and organs remaining.

native: Associated with a peculiar location; autochthonal plants and ani...

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