Ontology of Artefacts

In this paper, I analyse the idea of the world as a co-existence of humans and things. I argue that this co-existence should be considered under the conceptual lens of the responsibility. In the first two paragraphs, I argue that a system of artefacts always mediates humans’ experience. In the third and fourth paragraphs, I synthetize two different philosophical approaches, namely the theory of artefacts and materialistic method, which share the thesis of the performativity of the artefacts in the constitution
of human experience. In the conclusions, I show the political and ethical relevance of this possible material hermeneutics of the world.

When people go shopping in real life, they enter a building. But the store cannot be identified with the building, because it would remain the same shop if it moved to another building or if it became an e-store. Daniel Korman [2019] uses these two observations to argue that establishments are immaterial objects. However, all that follows is that establishments are not buildings. I argue that establishments are organizations or corporate agents that are constituted by people. This entails that they are material objects. Korman's observations can be accommodated in terms of the further observation that corporate agents can but need not own or rent buildings.

Contemporary debates in architectural criticism often turn on the identification of a building’s proper function. Thus a key step in resolving such debates would be to understand how buildings come to have their proper functions. In this essay, I argue that buildings, like other artefacts, obtain their proper functions, not in virtue of architects’ intentions, but in virtue of their histories of selection in the marketplace. I show how this theory of architectural function can advance critical debates by discussing the case of Libeskind’s controversial addition to Toronto’s Royal Ontario Museum.

Every human observation of the sky is in some way its descent on Earth. In the past, it was done more symbolic than practical, through reflection of the image of the sky in an object that functioned like a mirror. In that context, we analyze a Dodola folk song from Serbia in which a fairy invokes rain with a mirror she holds in her lap. During the ritual she is on top of a fir tree which has all the elements of a cosmic axis – it is located in the middle of the village and stretches high in the sky. The genesis of this structure can be traced back to the neolith through figurines of women-witches with a bowl of water in their lap in which they reflect the sky. These interpretations are further supported by lexemes from the Slavic languages which reflect the connection of the words for magic, sorcery (чарати, бацати чини) and those for shallow bowls, plates (чара, чинија). Then we analyze similar South Slavic rituals designed for taking the milk of a cow or a breastfeeding mother from another family. In these rituals women go to the threshing floor, take off their clothes and put a plate with water in their lap to reflect the moon. Then they strain the water through a sieve and believed that this makes the moon descend down to earth and moo like a cow. This is a magical ritual in which the straining of the water actually represents extracting the milk of the Moon which is depicted as a deity in the form of a cow. Supporting the relation woman-moon-water- fertility we mention numerous ethnographic and archeological facts which are based on the interference between the moon cycles and the female menstrual cycles. The movement of the sun in the ancient cultures was not always imagined as a cycle, but more as a semi-circular or wavy pattern, mostly because of the absence of a wheel as a paradigm. Still, the cyclic dynamics of the sun, the moon and the starry sky were observed even before the invention of the wheel and the carriage which later appeared in the era of metals and not as utilitarian but symbolic objects. It is assumed that the threshing hold prepositioned this, being a circular platform with a central pillar around which the horses or livestock moved in circles, stomping the wheat, separating the grain from the straw. This object also appeared as a symbolic phenomenon, a mythical image of the sky which depicts the cyclic movement of the celestial bodies. Its agricultural use comes secondarily. This is supported by the fact that most constellations have animal names, as well as the entire zodiac (‘animal circle’) – The Milky Way whose names contain straw – the essential part of the threshing hold; the immobile Polar star in the center of the sky or Pole star. It is believed that the threshing floor is not just a paradigm of the sky and its cyclic phenomena (‘celestial’/’ copper threshing floor’) but of numerous other constructions as well, which used to have a strong sacral status (the antic theaters orchestra, the arenas of the amphitheaters and stadiums..). It is also the basis of many temples-observatories like Stonehenge, as well as to similar Slavic bath-houses and the temples of other European tribes which were most likely used to observe the cyclic phenomena in the sky. The components we pointed out in this paper can be recognized in the temple in Kokino but not in the form of the object but in the form of the cyclic phenomena they observed in the temple (the threshing floor circle) and the central point through which they were observed (the threshing floor pillar).

From the opening scene of Raiders of the Lost Ark, the Indiana Jones film series has been continually defined by its quest for a central artefact – an object of pure wonder and desire. Inspired by exoticized colonial settings, Holy Grail secret histories, and more recently conspiracy or Ancient Astronaut theories, Indy’s expeditions to locate these relics reflect upon changing cultural fascinations with the archaeological narrative format. The successive development of the artefact is itself mirrored in the series through the presentation of object ontology, epitomised not only within their adaptive materialism but also the poignant and eternal question of where, if indeed anywhere, do these objects belong?

This paper will explore the pervasive impact of the Indiana Jones franchise on cultural perspectives towards artefact ontology. By utilising a post-structural materialist perspective, drawing on the work of object-oriented philosophy, I examine how cinematographic framing constructs and elevates the artefact, evoking subconscious visual short-hands that would come to define the genre. Further, I interrogate the artefact’s futurity – asking what happens after their discovery. For while Indy may claim that certain relics may ‘belong in a museum’, imperatively very few end up there. I argue that this provides a compelling insight into the materiality that is left behind – epitomised by Raiders’ switching of sand for idol – that illuminates anthropocentric perspectives to the life, death, and vibrancy of artefact ontology.

Artefacts stand not only as a crucial representation of past material cultures, but equally reflect upon our own current engagement. It is through the prominence and enduring popularity of Indy’s quests that we can better understand how archaeological framing inscribes a network of value upon materialism. By analysing artefact framing, object ontology, and material futurities, I contend that the Indiana Jones series is a crucial touchstone to better appreciate interactions with the non-human world.

Despite an infelicitous tradition downgrading their status, technical artefacts are increasingly acquiring their place in contemporary ontology. However, although most metaphysicians currently allow for an ontological consideration of artefacts, they define the class of artefacts differently and disagree on the essence of artificial objects. In this paper, I present a handful of recent accounts of artefacts, with particular regards to the hylomorphic framework. I make an attempt at reconstructing the debate on the spectrum of artefacts and the ways in which artefacts’ essences are singled out. Moreover, I indicate special cases, such as ready-mades and malfunctioning objects, which seem to constitute a threat for the presented accounts. Thereafter, I propose that Aristotle’s account of artefacts embraces the challenges of the contemporary debate. I also attempt to demonstrate that his theory of artefacts escapes the abovementioned threats. While unfolding Aristotle’s conceptual tools against such threats, I present his account of artefacts as hylomorphic and, hence, essentialist.

An analysis of the ordinary conception of material (ordinary) objects with the intention of overcoming the difficulties which torment their ontology. After having critically examined the contemporary ontological theories of material objects, as well as the principal questions that are involved by their ontology (such as identity, individuation, exemplification of properties, persistence over time), I proposed a new definition of the naïve notion of material object, in order to make it both internally consistent and compatible with the most accredited models of space-time continuum. According to Classical Mereology, the proposed definition is completely extensional, but according to Neo-Aristotelian Hylomorphism, it provides an ontological founding to the principle of unity which makes a mereological sum be an individual.

The paper focuses on the semiotic function of the crepna (bread baking dish) and the vrshnik (its cover). These traditional clay dishes were characteristic of the Balkans. Examined are several topics: the form of the crepna, which is reminiscent of the female body and therefore connected with a number of ritual magic procedures; female symbolism of the crepna; the crepna - dish - uterus - woman relation; and analogies and etymologies from Slavic languages. In popular tradition and phraseology, the crepna denotes earth while the vrshnik indicates the sky covering the earth. Examined is the custom in which a male effigy is placed on a peg wedged in the center of the crepna. The function of the male figurine was to protect the earthenware dish during the drying process. By employing semiotic and comparative analyses, and in relation with the mythological German, the author investigates the role of German and his implicit function as fecundator, mediator, and god sacrificed on the cosmic axis. The paper then looks at medieval Slavic, Indo-European, and worldwide parallels in art. One of the symbolic postulates is the analogy between the making of bread (kneading, leavening, baking) and the growth of a baby inside its mother's womb. In this respect, the crepna dish attains the character of the uterus - the mother of the bread and earth. The yeast represents the father of the bread, and the sperm means the rain.

Possession! This ambiguous word, capturing at the same time our material belongings, our dominion over them, and the inverted power they exercise over us.
[...] The nature of the object is an essential part of how it may be owned and possessed, and thus used and parted from, and its specific material qualities are essential parts of the object’s nature. There are several things to indicate that perceptions appreciating life histories and individual qualities, and literally or
metaphorically perceiving objects as animated, were present in a
Viking-Age Scandinavian context, and I will here give a few examples
to sustain this suggestion. The idea of animated objects may be reflected
in the ornamentation of the many Viking-Age artefacts which
are shaped like animals or human masks (Androshchuk 2014:202;
cf. Pearce 2013). Another example is the type name ‘knarr’ (cf. OE
cnearr), used for a category of Viking ships, which refers to the sound
created by the moving ship due to its particular construction (Svenska
Akademiens Ordbok, entry ‘knorr’). The idea of animated objects also
results through three types of textual sources: the personal names of
objects, referred to in the sagas and medieval poetry, the way some of
these objects are described as behaving, and statements attributed to
or inscribed on certain artefacts themselves [...]. Judging from Old Norse mythology and poetry, there are specific ideas behind what could, and should, be named: natural but culturally apprehended features like rivers, lakes and hills; culturally defined spaces like dwelling places and regions; domesticated animals, in mythology particularly if they have special functions or capacities; and certain types of objects. These are objects which are involved in special relations with
humans and gods, often functioning as personal attributes, in the manner of Odin’s spear Gungnir or Freyr’s ship Skíðblaðnir. Named objects are objects with certain qualities that make them appear as animated or purposeful [...]
Things of Quality may be possessed or even owned, but it is
characteristic that they at heart belong to a larger context than the single individual. They belong to a social play of gender roles, display and prestige, bond-binding and transcendental communication. Their beauty, value and special moments oblige us to treat them well and to pass them on. Things of Quality are admirable and desirable because of their capacities: force-resistant, swift, magical, beautiful, valuable. Yet they tend to remain just out of our reach or, if we should get hold of them, they cannot be trusted to stay and obey. Unrequited desire creates the feeling of unquiet and restless want that we call ‘to be
possessed’ and therefore they ultimately may own us as much as we may ever own them. Since only humans have feelings, our feelings for Things are not likely to ever be returned and entirely satisfied, no more than was Gollum’s yearning for his Precious ring.

In this part special place is given to the “Myth of the Metallic (Copper / Bronze) Th reshing Floor”, present in the toponyms, legends, magical stories and in the mediaeval apocrypal texts. It contains analyses of the next mythical elements: the metallic components (threshing fl oor, castle, fi eld, plants, food …); the connection between the mythical threshing fl oor and the cosmological myths about the fi rst mountain; the relation between the “metallic threshing fl oor” and the “metallic shrine”. Th e similarity between the threshing fl oor and one type of the Slavic pagan shrines with circular form, and the representation of the threshing fl oor on the ritual loaves from the 19th century are also discussed. Elaboration is given to the chthonic and “outer world” location of the metallic threshing fl oor, and the basic actions that take place on it: the fi ght between the hero and the dragon; the holy marriage between the hero (=sky / cosmic axis) and the Earth, (=ground upon which the threshing fl oor lies).

The paper is based on the concept of research of female clothes semiotics in relation to sex/reproductive female functions, on the basis of prehistoric and contemporary examples. Apron: a triangular shape of archaic apron in relation to triangular pubis. Panties, thong, sanitary napkins: the end of female body complete and independent of body position; indicator of female emancipation in relation to her sex. Stockings and panty hoses: female legs as part of her genital system; stretch socks = ‘uncovered’ and ‘hidden’; mesh stockings = woman as a caught trophy (the stimulus for ‘hunt’ and ‘attack’ of man); panty hose = membrane that closes the entire lower half of a woman. Skirt = a cone connecting woman and earth – both with the function of creating; a woman in a skirt = a woman-mountain / Mother-Earth; mini skirt – distancing/emancipation of a woman from the earth/her macrocosmic archetype. The space between the female outstretched legs = the first outer space into which we pass from the uterus; ‘the lap of mother’s legs’, covered with a skirt = the archetype of a house. Covering and uncovering of waist and female belly: - emphasizing the volume of hips; - showing that the woman is not pregnant.

Key words: female body semiotics, genitals, sex/sexuality, mons pubis, legs, apron, panties, stockings, mesh, skirt, house

Prototypen wandern aus den Werkstätten in die Gesellschaft. Sie gelten nicht länger als defizitäre, weil unvollständige Objekte. Vielmehr wird gerade durch das Design des materiell Vorläufigen das gesellschaftliche Übermorgen gestaltet und technologisiert. Die Produktion und Rezeption dieser Artefakte verwandelt sich dabei von einer exklusiven Expertentätigkeit zu einer öffentlichen sozialen Praxis: Prototypen werden in öffentlich zugänglichen Makerspaces hergestellt und in urbanen Eventformaten zelebriert. Sascha Dickel zeigt, dass damit auch eine neue Form der Kritik einhergehen kann, die nicht gegen die Technologisierung des Sozialen opponiert, sondern Wege erschließt, in einer technologisch verbauten Welt alternative Zukünfte zu entwerfen.

The beginning of this article discusses the question whether the presence of negroid characters of the presented archaeological objects is the result of actual presence of black people in the pointed region or it is the result of mythical traditions where these characters appeared. Further, the black mythical characters are analyzed from semiotic aspect in the frames of the concept of binary oppositions:

white people - white world - this world - up - life - good - clean - humans

black people - black world - that world - down - death - bad - dirty - nonhumans

The presence of negroid characters on the vessels is elaborated first from the archaeological finds. The first presented object is the Neolithic vessel from Govrlevo, near Skopje, with possible cult purpose and a negroid head on the side of the body. Next are two golden vessels from the hoard at Panagjurishte in Bulgaria: the rhyton-amphora with two black people heads and the phiale with multiple heads of the same kind, organized in concentric circles. Also mentioned are the Hellenic aryballoi with a negroid head combined with the head of a white woman. From the Roman samples, there are two finds from the ancient theaters at the territory of the Republic of Macedonia, in Stobi and in Heraclea Lyncestis. Few bronze balsamaria shaped as negorid heads or negroid figures from the territory of Bulgaria are also mentioned. The second part presents jewellery with the same motif from the Hellenistic period. Those are mainly earrings shaped as a rhyton with negroid head coming out.

The power of aroma to move us back through time is quite extraordinary. Developed in the womb, our olfactory sense is an integral, often unconscious part of our daily life and yet it is one of the most evocative triggers of memory. Scentefacts is a series of crafted anthropogenic artefacts that explores our phenomenological relationship to smell and memory. It converges theories from science, psychology, and anthropology,
and combines the aesthetics and poetry of form and material to give creative expression to the intangible sensory experience of recollection.

In the line of interdisciplinary research of semiotic relations between prehistoric and the contemporary settlement, this paper, based on the ethnological materials, tends to explain insufficiently stressed aspect of Neolithic buildings which refer to women’s biological functions (menstruation, delivery – after-delivery phase).

На линији низа интердисиплинарних истраживања семиотичких односа између праисторијског и савременог станишта, овај рад, са ослонцем на етнолошку грађу, настоји да проникне у један недовољно наглашен аспект неолитских грађевина који се односи на женске биолошке функције (менструацију – порођај – постпорођајну фазу).

Кључне речи: керамичке кућарице, менструација, неолит, жртвеници, Балкан.

The article applied the concept of semiotic analysis of the equipment for the traditional making of bread, above all in relation with the female reproductive organs (womb, vulva and breasts), as well as with natural elements of similar shapes (a hole in the ground, furrow, cave, valley). Particular significance is attached to the kneading trough – a vessel in which dough is left to ferment and rise, primarily in the framework of Slavic ethnography. The mentioned female meanings are indicated through ritual-magical tradition and the semantics of lexemes related to this area. Taking these traditions as a base, an attempt is made to find these objects and their female meaning in several categories of prehistoric pottery and wooden vessels that have so far been defined in archaeological science as cult objects: - Neolithic wooden trays; - Cycladic anthropomorphic vessels; - so-called zoomorphic and anthropomorphic ritons; other zoomorphic and anthropomorphic tripod vessels; - massive hurdle structures in Neolithic houses. Then the oven is analyzed as the second object in which the transformation of dough continues after the fermentation (baking of bread in relation with maturation of the fetus in the womb). The results of earlier research are summarized, in which the author presented the meaning of oven as a woman, mother and womb in extensive Slavic folk traditions (rituals, traditions and lexical semantics). Then these meanings are identified in the framework of Balkan prehistoric cultures (homemade clay ovens for bread baking and their miniature models designed in the form of a woman or a womb). Finally, the mentioned female aspects are summarized for the „crepulja“ – a clay container for bread baking, which is typical in the South Slavic and Balkan folklore.

Key words: ritualized manufacture, bread, kneading trough, bowl,
„crepulja“ clay container, oven, womb, vulva, dough rising, conception, pregnancy, fetus, birth.

Five fragmented tiles originating from the 15th century and found in Prague are the research topic of this text. A woman and another zoo-anthropomorphic figure spinning in front of a spindle can be seen on the better preserved examples. An attempt has been made to connect the second figure with: (1) some forest or house female spirits from the Slavic folklore that are linked to the textile activities; (2) the initiation rites of girls into adult women through symbolic transformation from the natural sphere (animal, bear, forest) into the cultural (a wife, a house-socium) through the act of spinning and other textile activities.

Keywords: Slavic mythology, female forest spirits, female house spirits, Mokosh, spinning, weaving, initiation

‘Macedonian bronzes’ refers to a pretty copious category of Iron Age bronze objects, dated mainly between 8th and 6th centuries BC. The majority of them are considered being used as jewelry with an emphasized symbolical i.e. magical and religious purpose. It is believed that they primarily belonged to the Paeonians, but also to other populations living in Macedonia and its surroundings. Even though this monograph encompasses the typology, the chronology, distribution and other material aspects of these items, mainly, its focus is the spiritual culture of the people who created and used them, especially their symbolical, magical, mythical, religious and the global semiotical system. Besides these finds, while revealing the aforementioned aspects, the author uses written historical sources referring to relevant periods and territories, but also to related phenomena of other cultures from the Indo-European and the Mediterranean areal.
Apart from the basic text in 8 chapters, this book contains 389 tables with catalogued illustrations, a bibliography and English summary in 75 pages.
This monograph contains a vast illustrative material to which we often refer in the very text and whose mechanical review makes the reading difficult. Therefore, we provided a possibility to hyperlink the images by clicking the number of the exact table marked in blue, whereupon it shows in a separate window, without leaving the text page. A prerequisite for this is to have the illustration folders in the same folder with the PDF of the whole monograph, without replacing or renaming the folders and the files. The folder "Figures" can be found on the same address as the PDF document of the whole book.
http://www.cip-cpr.org/en-publishing/_nikos-chausidis-macedonian-bronzes.html


Н. Чаусидис, Македонските бронзи и религијата и митологијата на железнодобните заедници од Средниот Балкан, Скопје: ЦИП - Центар за истражување на предисторијата, 2017.
Со називот македонски бронзи се означува една категорија бронзени предмети од железното време, датирани главно меѓу 8. и 6. век пр. н.е., од кои за повеќето се смета дека биле користени како накит со нагласена симболичка намена. Се смета дека им припаѓале, пред сè, на Пајонците, но и на други популации од Македонија и од нејзиното опкружување. Иако во оваа монографија се претставени и типологијата, хронологијата, распространетоста и другите материјални аспекти на овие предмети, нејзиниот фокус е насочен кон духовната култура на луѓето што ги создавале и што ги користеле овие објекти, односно нивниот симболички, магиски, митско-религиски и глобалниот семиотички систем. Освен наведените наоди, во откривањето на овие аспекти се вклучени пишаните историски извори што се однесуваат на дадените време и простор и сродните феномени кои припаѓаат на други култури од индоевропскиот и од медитеранскиот ареал.
Покрај основниот текст, организиран во 8 глави, книгата содржи 389 табли со каталогизирани илустрации, библиографија и резиме на англиски јазик на 75 страници. 
Оваа монографија има обемен илустративен материјал на кој текстот честопати се повикува и чиешто механичко прегледување многу го отежнува читањето. Поради тоа, обезбедена е можност за повикување на сликите со кликнување на бројот на конкретната табла со илустрации означен со сина боја, при што таа се појавува во посебно прозорче без да се напушти матичната страница со текстот. Услов за оваа операција е во истиот фолдер во кој се наоѓа PDF документот на монографијата да биде и фолдерот со илустрациите (Figures), без притоа да се менуваат местото и називите на овој фолдер и фолдерите и фајловите сместени во него.  Фолдефот "Figures" се наоѓа на истата адреса со ПДФ документот на целата книга.
http://www.cip-cpr.org/_publishing/_nikos-chausidis-makedonski-bronzi.html

This article is dedicated to the phenomenon known as "The transfer of libido" within the frames of the ancient and modern traditional communities and especially its manifestations in material culture. In the introduction, there is a little elaboration about relation between archeology and physiology and the role of pictorial semiotic as their mediator. Afterwards there is a criticism of the concepts in which, after explanation of primary cultural's genesis and especially manufacture products, the active rationality of archaic man included during the explanation is baseless. Instead of this, we suggest another concept in which genesis of primary forms of productions are seeking in the spheres of "mutated" and "perverted" instinctive mechanisms of the humans. In addition, there is attempt for proving (based mostly on artistic illustrations) that human's libido is invested in the hunt during the time of the Paleolithic period and cult objects are included too. Also there are parallels with analogical phenomenon in the later cultures, in which those ones from Balkan's folklore also take part. Due to this, we are emphasizing symbolic identification of the weapon with phallus, of the hunted animal with women and of the hunt with coitus. With the same analogy is treated the investment of the libido in the spheres of agriculture, based upon the symbolic identification of the soil with the Women and of the agricultural tool with the phallus, where the act of cultivation of the soil is becoming act of coitus. This identification (presented above) is manifested through few traditions, beginning from late prehistory to the modern folk¬lore (artistic illustrations, traces in the languages, myths and rituals). At the end is presented the example of investment of the libido in production of the Bronze Age's stone ax (procedure of perforation of the hole for handle is identified as coitus).

This work is pointed towards the semiotic and mythological aspects of the threshing floor in Slavic culture, including the period from the Middle Ages till the contemporary folklore. According to the real form and the functions of the threshing floor, its dynamical cosmological symbolic is stressed, accenting its celestial character: - threshing floor = sky/heaven; - the hinge = axis mundi; - the circular movement of the animals = cyclical dynamics of the celestial bodies. A few myths referring to this particular object are elaborated. “The threshing Floor where the Birds are threshing Immortelle” is explicitly represented in the stories from Macedonia and Bulgaria, while implicitly its presence can be noticed in the Balkan rituals connected with the “Christmas Straw” and the legends of “The Milky Way” (“Godfather`s Straw”/”Kumova slama”). The relation between the mythologized threshing floor and the faries is elaborated through the components “Fairies' Th reshing Floor” (“Vilino gumno”, “Judinsko horo”), present throughout toponyms and legends. The second part of this work will give elaboration to the motif of the “Metallic Th reshing Floor”.

"This article is dedicated to the phenomenon known as "The transfer of libido" within the frames of the ancient and modern traditional communities and especially its manifestations in material culture. In the introduction, there is a little elaboration about relation between archeology and physiology and the role of pictorial semiotic as their mediator. Afterwards there is a criticism of the concepts in which, after explanation of primary cultural's genesis and especially manufacture products, the active rationality of archaic man included during the explanation is baseless. Instead of this, we suggest another concept in which genesis of primary forms of productions are seeking in the spheres of "mutated" and "perverted" instinctive mechanisms of the humans. In addition, there is attempt for proving (based mostly on artistic illustrations) that human's libido is invested in the hunt during the time of the Paleolithic period and cult objects are included too. Also there are parallels with analogical phenomenon in the later cultures, in which those ones from Balkan's folklore also take part. Due to this, we are emphasizing symbolic identification of the weapon with phallus, of the hunted animal with women and of the hunt with coitus. With the same analogy is treated the investment of the libido in the spheres of agriculture, based upon the symbolic identification of the soil with the Women and of the agricultural tool with the phallus, where the act of cultivation of the soil is becoming act of coitus. This identification (presented above) is manifested through few traditions, beginning from late prehistory to the modern folk¬lore (artistic illustrations, traces in the languages, myths and rituals). At the end is presented the example of investment of the libido in production of the Bronze Age's stone ax (procedure of perforation of the hole for handle is identified as coitus).

Archaeologists do not have to look to external theory to kick-start the interpretation of material remains. Greater confidence can be placed in the meanings which emerge from our most basic encounters with archaeological evidence, which impart a direction and trajectory to research from the very outset– realigning applied ideas and giving impetus to new intellectual currents. Such emergent meanings already have intrinsic movement and vibrancy, deriving from a strong grounding in an unfolding material world opened up through excavation and direct contact with things. This paper explores the ways in which
archaeologists follow the rhythms and flows of cuts, artefacts and other material entities.

The goal of this paper is to develop a systematic taxonomy of cognitive artifacts, i.e., human-made, physical objects that functionally contribute to performing a cognitive task. First, I identify the target domain by conceptualizing the category of cognitive artifacts as a functional kind: a kind of artifact that is defined purely by its function. Next, on the basis of their informational properties, I develop a set of related subcategories in which cognitive artifacts with similar properties can be grouped. In this taxonomy, I distinguish between three taxa, those of family, genus, and species. The family includes all cognitive artifacts without further specifying their informational properties. Two genera are then distinguished: representational and non-representational (or ecological) cognitive artifacts. These genera are further divided into species. In case of representational artifacts, these species are iconic, indexical, or symbolic. In case of ecological artifacts, these species are spatial or structural. Within species, token artifacts are identified. The proposed taxonomy is an important first step towards a better understanding of the range and variety of cognitive artifacts and is a helpful point of departure, both for conceptualizing how different artifacts augment or impair cognitive performance and how they transform and are integrated into our cognitive system and practices.

False heads have been a recurring accessory for Andean mummies since the Middle Horizon (ca AD750-1000). Made of ceramic, wood, or cloth, they show schematic human features and are placed on the funerary bundles that contain the bodies of the deceased. From a corpus of nearly 80 pieces from the Pachacamac site (excavations and museum collections), a typology is proposed, accompanied by a chronology based on a series of absolute dates. False heads also have recurring characteristics that allow us to understand their particular
function. It appears that these objects are associated with certain important ancestors, whom their descendants worshiped. They were active agents, participants in the ritual traditions discussed ethnohistorically. The false head plays a crucial role in the relationship between the dead and the living and sheds light on the specific ontological position of the dead in the ancient Andes.

KEYWORDS Ancestor cult; artefact agency; funerary patterns; mummies; Ychsma; Andean archaeology

This keynote address for the goINDIGO 2022 symposium is a walk through a few of the affects and effects of graffiti. It considers graffiti through three lenses: as a subject for archaeological investigation, as an artefact from time past, time now and time as unfolding surfaces; and it asks how we develop our archival practices in the wake of digital profusion challenges and the 6th extinction event in the Anthropocene.

Text rekonstruuje implicitní ontologii autorského díla v autorském zákoně České republiky (zákon č. 1212000 Sb.) a v jeho komentáři, jenž v roce 2007 vydali Ivo Telec a Pavel Tůma. Za tímto účelem je využito poznatků filosofie artefaktu a ontologie uměleckého díla. Závěrečná část je věnována kritickému zhodnocení identitních podmínek autorského díla v českém právním řádu, který nedostatečně zohledňuje tzv. kauzální dimenzi autorských děl.