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Ecofacts, Geofacts, Artifacts - Video

In this video MVAC Senior Research Associate Dr. Connie Arzigian explains three general categories of items that can be found on archaeological sites: artifacts, ecofacts, and geofacts. Artifacts are things that were made or modified by humans-stone tools, pottery, bone tools, fire-cracked rock, and so forth. Ecofacts are ecological items such as animal bones or plant remains that are remnants of human activities at the site, but were themselves not modified by humans. Geofacts are geological specimens that were shaped by natural processes, though they might sometimes look like something that a human had made, leading to confusion.