Editing Artifact

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An [[Artifact]] or [[Artefact]] is any manufactured object. It was made using [[tool]]s meaning that [[sophont]]s were once here.
* The term artifact is commonly used to refer to any object, item, or group of related items produced by the [[Ancients]].
* It may be a technological [[device]] or [[tool]]. It may just as easily be a cultural object, a luxury or [[gimmick]], with no direct link to a sophontic technology. 
* [[Imperial Law]] requires all artifacts found in [[Imperial Space]] to be turned over to the [[Third Imperium]]. Different laws apply to [[archaeological]]s. {{Unpublished cite|author= [[Maksim-Smelchak]] }}
 
== Description ([[Specifications]]) ==
An ''artifact'' is any [[object]] created by [[sophont]]s which gives information about the [[culture]] and/or [[technology]] of its creator and users. It is typically something made or given shape by a [[sophont]], such as a [[tool]] or a work of art, especially an object of xenoarchaeological interest. Sometimes, they are called cultural artifacts because they reveal the material culture of a people. {{Unpublished cite|author= [[Maksim-Smelchak]] }}

It might be something as simple as a [[Libations of Charted Space|crushed bev can or libation container]] or... it could be a fantastic objet d'art. Perhaps it could be a mysterious high tech camera or [[weapon]] of a [[precursor]] [[society]]? {{Unpublished cite|author= [[Maksim-Smelchak]] }}

The term artifact is also commonly used to refer to any object, item, or group of related items produced by [[precursor]] [[civilization]]s such as the [[Ancients]]. They are sometimes called [[necro-marker]]s or [[technosignature]]s. {{Unpublished cite|author= [[Maksim-Smelchak]] }}

=== Artifacts vs. Archaeologicals ===
The two terms have considerable overlap: {{Unpublished cite|author= [[Maksim-Smelchak]] }}
* [[TL:1-9]]: '''[[Archaeological]]s''' are generally considered to be lower technology objects, generally in the [[TL:1-9]] range. These objects are relatively easily recognized, understood, and are also known as [[Ur-Tech]].
* [[TL:10-18]]: [[Artifact]]s are generally considered to be high technology objects, generally in the [[TL:10-18]] range or higher. They can be tougher to discern than less technologically advanced objects, yet are strangely familiar, and are also known as [[Stell-Tech]].

=== Classes of Artifacts ===
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|- 
!colspan="3"| Classes of Artifacts
|-
! Class
! [[TL]]
! Remarks
|-
| Class A Artifact 
| [[TL:31-33]]
| [[Ascendant]] artifacts are considered to be impossibly advanced omnipotential objects, in the [[TL:31-33]] range. They might not be recognizable as tangible or corporeal objects and are also known as [[Omni-Tech]].
|-
| Class B Artifact 
| [[TL:28-30]]
| [[Transcendent]] artifacts are considered to be astrodeific objects, in the [[TL:28-30]] range. They are difficult to conceptualize, let alone recover, and are also known as [[Dei-Tech]].
|-
| Class C Artifact 
| [[TL:19-27]]
| [[Ultra Period]] artifacts are considered to be very advanced objects, in the [[TL:19-27]] range. They are not easy to recognize and are also known as [[Ultra-Tech]].
|-
| Class D Artifact 
| [[TL:10-18]]
| ''Artifact''s are generally considered to be high technology objects, generally in the [[TL:10-18]] range or higher. They can be tougher to discern than less technologically advanced objects, yet are strangely familiar, and are also known as [[Stell-Tech]].
|-
| Class E Artifact <br> ([[Archaeological]])
| [[TL:1-9]]
| [[Archaeological]]s are generally considered to be lower technology objects, generally in the [[TL:1-9]] range. These objects are relatively easily recognized, understood, and are also known as [[Ur-Tech]].
|-
| Class X Artifact 
| [[TL-0]]
| [[Protosophont]]s lack the ability to make [[tool]]s using [[tool]]s. They may leave behind [[found tool]]s, [[biofact]]s, or [[ecofact]]s. They require an astute observer and are also known as [[Proto-Tech]]. 
|-
| Class Y Artifact
| TL-Neg
| Sometimes anomalous objects appear that don't seem to be manufactured by [[sophont]]s or [[conventional life]]forms.
|-
|}

== History & Background ([[Dossier]]) ==
An ''artifact'' can be any tangible [[object]] created by a [[sophont]] species. Many but not all artifacts are [[device]]s or [[machine]]s, which is to say technological tools or mechanisms. Some artifacts are not [[tool]]s and possess cultural meaning that may be incomprehensible to [[sophont]]s from a different [[culture]]. {{Unpublished cite|author= [[Maksim-Smelchak]] }}

And some artifacts from very advanced [[precursor]] species may be entirely psionic, intangible, or incorporeal in nature... {{Unpublished cite|author= [[Maksim-Smelchak]] }}
 
=== Ancients Artifacts ===
For example, many of the artifacts recovered from the [[precursor]] [[culture]] of the [[Ancients]] still remain mysteries to the [[TL-15]] [[societies]] of [[Charted Space]]. Some of these artifacts were clearly created with [[technology]] far more advanced than that currently in use throughout the [[starway]]s. Some of these artifacts have been determined to be technological [[device]]s or [[tool]]s while others may have been luxuries, [[gimmick]]s, or items of undetermined cultural value. One of the difficulties in identifying Ancients [[technology]] is its incredible diversity: From one site to another there may be few commonalities, sometimes spanning entirely different engineering strategies, material technologies, and even philosophical design choices. Even by the chaotic standards of [[Humaniti]], it's incredibly bizarre. {{Unpublished cite|author= [[Maksim-Smelchak]] }} 

The most striking aspect of the Ancient technology is not its high level (...though this is certainly dramatic), but its diversity. Of the hundreds of [[Ancient Site]]s which have been excavated and analyzed, each appears to express a different approach to the problems solved by [[technology]]. It would be easy to take each site as originating from a different cultural or technological background, as the first [[Vilani]] [[spacefarer]]s theorized them to be. It appears that each site involved the near total re-invention of the most basic building blocks of technology. One site might use familiar screw fasteners, while another would depend on adhesives for the same task; still others could use rivets, or interlocking ellipsoids, or simple plastic clasps. Where one site's [[computer]]s and [[electronic]]s show evidence of depending on silicon chip circuits, another performed the same functions with [[fiber optic]]s, still another used fluid dynamics, and yet another channeled heat transfer. Even writing, data formats, recording formats, systems, and standards vary between sites. While the high-tech equipment discovered is fully compatible within a site, rarely do artifacts from different sites show any ability to function together. {{Page cite|name= Droyne |page= 4-5 |version=Classic Traveller}} 

No one currently knows what many Ancients artifacts are, let alone their intended function or functions... or is telling if they do. Sometimes the best clues come from local [[rumor]]s, [[folklore]], and [[Old Spacer's Tale]]s. {{Unpublished cite|author= [[Maksim-Smelchak]] }}

=== Selected Recovered Artifacts of Charted Space === 
This is a very partial listing of selected artifacts recovered, but not always operational from [[Charted Space]]:
# [[Antimatter Battery]]
# [[Apocalypse Package]]
# [[Argian Stargate]]
# [[Artifact Ganiir 4132]]
# [[Black Globe Generator]]
# [[Coyn]]s
# [[Erdriad Erdriap]]
# [[Erdriap Chensh]]
# [[Holographic World Sphere]]
# [[Hieronymous Device]]
# [[Idkurkian Big Gun]]
# [[Jump Potentiator]]
# [[Matter Teleportation Artifact]]
# [[Memory Alpha]]
# [[Monadium]]
# [[Oynssork]]
# [[Personal Damper]]
# [[Planetary Core Tap]]
# [[Relativity Pistol]]
# [[Relativity Rifle]]
# [[Shimmersuit]]
# [[Star Map Projector]]
# [[Star Trigger]]
# [[Tablet of the Dawn]]
# [[Uterine Replicator]]

==== Selected Hypothetical Artifacts of Charted Space ==== 
The following [[device]]s are projected to exist or will exist in the future:
# [[Criswell Structure]]
# [[Jump Gate]]
# [[Jupiter Brain]]
# [[Matrioshka Mind]]
# [[Matter Transporter]]
# [[Nova Trigger]]
# [[Omni-Heuristic Mind]]
# [[Planet-buster]] 
# [[Portal]]
# [[Psi-Staff]]
# [[Shkadov Thruster]]
# [[Star Gate]]
# [[Star Map Projector]]
# [[Tesseract]]
# [[Topopolis]]
# [[Total Terraforming Bomb]]
# [[Transdimensional Drive]]
# [[White Globe Generator]]

== See also ==
{{Referral-Tree-X-Xenoarchaeology}}

== References & Contributors ([[Sources]]) ==
{{Wikipedia|Artifact_(archaeology)}}
{{Wikipedia|Cultural_artifact}}
{{Advanced}}
{{Sources
|S1= This article is an amalgamation of many different materials published since 1977.
|S2= {{Ludography cite|name= Twilight's Peak |page=TBD}} ({{CT}} [[Adventure 3]])
|S3= {{Ludography cite|name= Library Data (A-M) |page=TBD}} ({{CT}} [[Supplement 8]])
|S4= {{Ludography cite|name= Secret of the Ancients |page=TBD |version= Classic Traveller |article= Artifacts and Ancient Sites}} ({{CT}} [[Adventure 12]])
|S5= {{Ludography cite|name= Knightfall |page= 71-73}}
|S6= {{Ludography cite|name= T5 Core Rules |page=TBD}}
|S7= [[T5]] [[Traveller Trading Card]] Reference
|S9= Author & Contributor: Lord (Marquis) and Master of Sophontology [[Maksim-Smelchak]] of the [[Ministry of Science]]
}}


{{LE|Artifact|Terminology}}