ARTIFACTS: PHENOMENA, DATING AND GENERAL FACTS

There are so many mysteries in our world that it will take centuries to disclose at least a small part of these secrets. One of the oldest puzzles are artifacts in archeology. Many of these artifacts look so ancient that it is questioned whether the artifact did exist at that time.

If translated from the Latin language, "artifact" means "artificially made". In general, an artifact is a phenomenon or object or feature of an object or process, that - for natural reasons and common sense - is unlikely to be true or impossible at all. The artifact is a sign of deliberate interference in the observed process, or the influence of some unaccounted factors. Artifact in archaeology is a man-made object those characteristics do not correlate with its age, according to the place of its discovery. Purpose of such artifacts is often unclear, too.

In order to find out belonging of such findings to a certain time and their authenticity various methods of dating artifacts have been developed. One of the most popular methods is the method of radiocarbon dating. It allows to answer one of the main questions: When? However, there have been hundreds cases of fake dating reported.

Often scientists are mistaken, too. The radiocarbon method enables to calculate the age of an artifact only with relative accuracy, and errors can be as much as 500 and sometimes a thousand years or more.

A thermoluminescent method also allows to calculate the age of artifacts, but it can be applied only to certain materials. Today, modern technologies are used to date and verify the authenticity of artifacts. For example, the computer technology is used to reconstruct the initial conditions of the environment, similar to that where an artifact was created. Anyway, all the methods have a lot of "buts"! Archaeology is not an accurate science. Therefore, there are a lot of discussions, arguments, rebuttals and even scandals.

Artifacts are highly valued not only at auctions, but also on the black market, so the illegal market of the artifacts is constantly growing. People want to touch something unknown and mysterious, and they are willing to pay for this a lot of money.