An artifact is usually an object made or shaped by humans, often from the past, that tells us something about a culture, time period, or activity.

Simple definition

An artifact is any item that people made or modified, instead of something that formed naturally like a rock or a tree. It can be as simple as a stone tool or as elaborate as a painting or piece of jewelry.

Common uses of the word

  • In archaeology, an artifact is an object from the past found during excavations, such as tools, pottery, weapons, or ornaments. These items help researchers understand how people lived, worked, and believed long ago.
  • In everyday language, people may call something an “artifact” when it feels old‑fashioned or left over from another era, like an outdated device or custom.
  • In science and technology, an “artifact” can mean an error or distortion in data or images caused by the method or equipment, not by the real thing being measured (for example, weird blocks in a low‑quality digital photo).

Quick examples

  • A Roman coin found at a dig site is an artifact because humans made it and it reveals something about Roman life and economy.
  • A scratched or blocky patch in a compressed video is a digital artifact, created by the compression process rather than by the scene itself.

TL;DR: An artifact is a human-made or human-shaped object—often historical—that helps us understand people and their world, or in tech, a glitch or side-effect created by tools and methods.