Welcome to Awesome Artefacts!

An artefact is an  object made by humans which is portable  and can be moved to another location. An artefact can be stored in a museum.

Examples of artefacts we use today include:

Crockery such as plates, cups, teapots, jugs


Cutlery such as knives, forks and spoons        

 
Jewellery 

 
Mobile phones



Monument or Artefact?


House

 
Car                                                                               

One of the two images above, Car or House, is NOT an artefact, Can you guess which one?

Archaeologists find out about people and places from long ago by looking at the artefacts they have left behind them.

Questions they ask about the artefact are
A What is it?
B  Who made it?
C  What was it made from?
D  When would it have been used?
E   What was it used for?

Can you answer the same questions about this artefact?

What happens to archaeological artefacts after they have been discovered?

• Cleaned
• Described accurately
• Measured and weighed
• Photographed and drawn
• Given a reference number
• Studied to see if similar ones exist elsewhere
• Sometimes they are conserved or restored
• Stored or put on display in a Museum

Famous Irish artefacts include

The Tara Brooch                             Image courtesy Bruce Arnold, Irish Art, 1977

 
The Book of Kells

Derrynaflan Chalice

Other important but less famous artefacts are

Fragment of a Bronze Age Pot

 
Medieval Wooden Spoons

                                                
                                        Medieval Coins