Torben
  Junior Editor

Being an archaeologist, this is a word we used constantly. I work in British archaeology where we write 'artefact', whereas it is generally known that our American colleagues spell the word 'artifact' - the words mean the same.
'Artefact' does not necessarily refer to an old object - although the artefacts I come across are generally thousands of years old. The word just means 'made by a human being', that is, not a natural object. Being a stone tool specialist we also use the term 'geofact' when we have decided that a 'stone tool' is not a stone tool but simply an unworked piece of natural rock.

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