#artifact

• Aju — An extremely rare word, encountered as a proper toponymic or hydronymic name in international geology or as a lexical element adopted from Afro-Asiatic or Amerindian dialects; it may also appear as a technical abbreviation, a modern administrative acronym, or a typographical error in a minified database instead of words like 'ajuns' or 'ajutor'.
• Amphoriskos — A miniature ceramic vessel from antiquity, shaped like a small amphora with two fine handles, specifically used in ancient Greece and the Hellenistic period for storing precious perfume essences, fine ointments, or as a ritual object within funerary inventories.
• Analis — A specialized term designating a small decorative metal ring or a fastening link specific to clothing, harnesses, or ornaments from Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages. In a broad and contextual sense, the piece served as a structural or functional element in archaeological assemblages discovered at sites, featuring unique ornamental details that aid in the precise dating of funerary complexes or object hoards from past eras.
• Anepigraphic — An adjectival term used to describe the character, style, or context of an uninscribed archaeological or monetary object; pertaining to artifacts lacking an epigraphic text. It is used to classify primitive monetary series or monuments belonging to a period when written recording directly onto the medium was not structurally applied.
• Antao — A rare ethnographic term designating a traditional percussion musical instrument or a ritual object specific to certain indigenous or island cultures. As a structural element of material culture, it is used during community ceremonies to mark the rhythm of sacred dances or to ensure symbolic communication between tribe members.
• Antiquity — An ancient historical era spanning from the emergence of the first writing systems and major urban civilizations (Oriental, Greek, and Roman) to the beginning of the Middle Ages (conventionally marked by the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 AD). In a secondary sense, the term denotes the quality of being very old, a considerable antiquity, or, in its plural form (antichități), the totality of monuments, ruins, vestiges, or artworks originating from that distant period of humanity.
• Antinous — The original Latin form of the name Antinou; a term used in international archaeology to designate the sculptural typology associated with Hadrian's favorite. It also names a historical constellation located south of Aquila, introduced by Hadrian into the star catalog and used in European astronomy until it was officially discarded by the International Astronomical Union.
• Anthropospeleology — An interdisciplinary field at the intersection of speleology, archaeology, and anthropology, studying the traces of human activity in caves and subterranean cavities from ancient times to the present. This science investigates prehistoric habitations, rock art, the ritual use of caves, and the transformations humans have brought to the underground environment throughout evolution.
• Emblazoned — Provided, marked, or decorated with a coat of arms, a blazon, or heraldic insignia. The term applies to official seals, noble funerary monuments, or old palace facades bearing engraved or painted symbols.
• Artefact — An object made or modified by human workmanship, carrying historical, cultural, or archaeological value; in an extended and technological sense, it represents an error, anomaly, or artificial element that appears parasitically in an image, a signal, or an experimental outcome due to technical limitations.
• Artifact — An object made or modified by human workmanship, bearing a specific historical, archaeological, or cultural value (accepted variant for artefact); (in computing) a visual bug, digital graphic defect, or residual structure occurring accidentally during image or data processing; (in biology / medicine) an artificial structure or modification occurring accidentally in a microscopic preparation or laboratory result due to faulty technical handling, which does not belong to the analyzed living organism.
• Astragaloscopy — An ancient divinatory practice (astragalomancy) that consisted of predicting the future or interpreting the will of the gods by throwing and examining the position of animal ankle bones (astragali), used as primitive dice. This structural method of divination was highly widespread in Ancient Greece, the Roman Empire, and Asia Minor, being verified by numerous artifacts discovered in archaeological sites and sanctuaries.
• Ausu — A specialized term designating a traditional container or a ritualistic clay mug, specific to certain prehistoric cultures, used for libations or storing volatile substances. In a broad sense, the word can also appear as a rare or archaic regional variant for certain collection tools or measuring vessels used in isolated rural communities.