The words object and artifact are well defined in the literature. For example, I provided a quick guide to the meanings of these words in "Things Great and Small: Collections Management Policies" in Table 2.2. If you would like to look deeper into the definitions, you should begin with the definitions provided in "Museum Wise: Workplace Words Defined" (Cato, Golden, and McLaren, 2003). The short answer is that an artifact refers to something made or modified by human beings; object is something capable of being seen, touched, or otherwise sensed, hence a material thing. All artifacts are objects, not all objects are artifacts. --John John E. Simmons Collections Manager, Natural History Museum & Biodiversity Research Center and Director, Museum Studies Program University of Kansas 1345 Jayhawk Boulevard Lawrence, Kansas 66045-7561 Telephone 785-864-4508 FAX 785-864-5335 [log in to unmask] www.nhm.ku.edu/herpetology www.ku.edu/~museumst -----Original Message----- From: Museum discussion list [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Cascio, Chris Sent: Friday, July 06, 2007 10:53 AM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Artifact or Object? For the "why be clear when you can use jargon" department: I quite often hear the terms "artifact" and "object" used interchangeably. I always thought that they were used in different contexts. My understanding is that the term "object" is used for "whole" things (ex. a chair, a painting, a teapot) whereas "artifact" is used for fragments of things--especially something archaeological (ex. a ceramic shard). Maybe I'm being a bit too particular, but what's the consensus? Chris Christopher M. Cascio Assistant Site Administrator Pottsgrove Manor historic site 100 West King Street Pottstown, PA 19464-6318 (610) 326-4014 [log in to unmask] www.historicsites.montcopa.org ========================================================= Important Subscriber Information: The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes). If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes). ========================================================= Important Subscriber Information: The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes). If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).