What can artifacts tell us?

Archeology (the study of human history through excavation and artifacts) can tell us things about how people lived, died and suffered. They tell what people liked, their hobbies and even sometimes their ideas. Sometimes another word for artifact is heirloom.

Artifacts can include simple household items, furniture, artwork and even human remains.

In Pompeii, the area covering the final surge cloud is so large, only one area of it has been excavated. No matter where archaeologists dig, they always find bodies. Many of the artifacts from Pompeii's central region have been uncovered, yet only a portion of the area is fully excavated. Researchers continue to study Pompeii because of how well preserved things are below the ash.

Every city, every family and every single person has belongings. When people die, when families die out, when cities go dormant, artifacts remain to tell others who those people were.

This picture is an artifact of Pompeii. It shows a fresco [painting done on wet plaster] found in the ruins of the city. The picture is one of the first ever to depict a literate female - a young girl poised with her pen and book in hand. Girls were not permitted to attend school but received their instruction at home. Many girls learned to read but never write - as these were two separate skills. The girl pictured here is shown able to do both. It is believed that Roman girls recieved more (and better) education at home than their Greek neighbors, allowing more opportunity for higher status at the time of a female's maturity; around the age of 13-14.

??--QUESTIONS: What sort of artifacts does your family treasure? Do you have a book, hankerchief or poem left behind by a grandparent or aunt? What type of artifacts interest you the most?


for more information about what artifacts can tell us visit one of these pages: Artifacts Tell Sad Tales (short article) or History Now (about how builders in NY City in 1991 uncovered a burial ground for slaves).

Teachers might also like these lesson plan ideas about Artifacts and the Culture of China or King Tut's Treasures.