Programs

Everybody knows what an arrowhead is. That’s the problem. 

An artifact is just something a person made or altered to make it useful. That means intention is what makes it an artifact at all, and intentions are exactly what doesn't survive in the archaeological record. What's left is only the object itself - its shape, its wear, and where it was sitting in the ground. So how do archaeologists get from one back to the other? 

Join James Scott Cardinal of the New York State Museum’s Cultural Resource Survey Program for a discussion on how archaeologists interpret artifacts. Drawing on objects from the Museum’s collections and examples from archaeological fieldwork, Cardinal will explore how seemingly obvious labels and assumptions can shape and sometimes limit our understanding of the past. 

By setting aside what we think we know and paying close attention to what the objects themselves can tell us, archaeologists can uncover stories that are often far more surprising than expected.