IS IT AN ARTIFACT OR A RELIC?

SHERMANVILLE ILLINOIS

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May 22, 2005
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Just nit-picking tonight.

Most posters on this site use the term relic. Metal detectors have relic modes.

Got out the dictionary.

RELIC: a surviving memorial of something past.

an object having interest by reason of it's age or it's association with the past.

a surviving trace of something.

ARTIFACT: any object made or modified by man.

I usually use the term artifact for something I find, unless I can place it to the area I found it in.
I found a shooting gallery duck in an area that was once an amusement park, I call it a relic. I found
some tags from the University Of Chicago in an area where they had a atomic program going, again a relic.
I find a piece of metal in a field that I cannot I.D. , it could be a farmers but I am not sure, I
call that an artifact. The same field had some French troops in the area in the past, and I find a French
coin from the period they passed through, I call it a relic. If I find an old foundation and dig some bottles
near it, I call it an artifact, who know who dumped them, could have been the folks who had the foundation,
perhaps not. AM I MAKING ANY SENSE?

Unless you can tie it in with the area and time frame you are hunting it would only be an artifact and not
a relic. ???

Any comments?

all have a good un.........
SHERMANVILLE ILLINOIS
 

No difference in my book (just depends of what term one wishes to use)!
 

And.....some people say treasure hunting while others say metal detecting! I call it all prospecting. I'm not going THing or MDing, I'm goin' prospectin'! Monty
 

When I use the word Artifact Im talking about Indian Items. When I use the word Relic it is all other man made items. I dont have any thing scientifec to back this up it is just how I have don it the last 15 years of hunting or prospecting as Monty calls it. SAS<><
 

It is a lot easier speaking and writing and typing the word "relic" than the word "artifact".

The word "relic" is common lingo used by metal detectorists.
 

Artifact is a larger set containing the subsets: relic and trash. And, one man's trash is another's relic. ;D
 

In England we call 'em all artefacts-anything man-made thats gone into the ground over the last two millenia.In the U.S.A it seems most detectorists call the 'bits' relics..
 

Hello,
I'd call it either, though the term "relic" is often used here in aussieland by detectorists.
 

Hi,
Punch up "relic" on ebay and you'll find alot of religious objects along with civil war and other misc. stuff.
I think that the old meaning for relic is an object that represents 1 or more of the catholic saints. Also a relic is known as a sacred, holy object.
I usually use the word "artifact" with either "historic" or "prehistoric" in the sentence.
Dave.
 

That's interesting Dave, also relics of a religious nature are sometimes refered to as 'icons'. That can either be in the form of a photo, image or object. When talking about the lost tresures of the last Tsar of Russia, the treasures are often refered to as 'icons'.
Angela :)
 

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