- "Material culture is the aspect of social reality grounded in the objects and architecture that surround people."
A study of the objects and artifacts that form the basis of museum collections, including their production, use, and meaning. It explores the ways in which objects can be analyzed to reveal insights into cultural practices and beliefs.
Materiality: Materiality is the fundamental concept of material culture, which explains how objects and things can be meaningful or have cultural significance.
Object biographies: The life histories of objects and how they change over time are important components of understanding material culture.
Production and consumption: Understanding the production and consumption aspects of objects reveals their social, economic, and cultural significance.
Representation: Interpreting the meanings and symbolism of objects in different contexts and their relationship with cultural values and beliefs.
Collecting and display: The practice of collecting objects for display, the history of museums, and the different types of museum collections.
Indigenous material culture: Understanding the unique perspectives of Indigenous peoples and their material culture values and meanings.
Ethnographic research: Examining objects through ethnographic research and how these objects are used in everyday practices and activities.
Heritage management: Understanding the management and interpretation of material culture objects in diverse contexts such as heritage sites, parks and monuments, and communities.
Performance and ritual: Examining objects in the context of performance and ritual practices and their cultural significance.
Material culture and identity: The significant role material culture plays in the formation and representation of identity, such as national identity, gender identity, and cultural identity.
Clothing and textiles: These can include traditional costumes, everyday clothing, hand-woven fabrics, and other textiles that reflect the cultural practices and aesthetics of particular societies.
Tools and utensils: These items might include hunting or farming tools, cooking utensils, or other implements that reflect the technology and practical skills of particular communities.
Weapons: This category may include traditional weapons such as spears, bows and arrows, knives, and other tools of combat or protection.
Art and craftwork: This could include paintings, sculptures, carvings, pottery, and other art or craft items that reflect particular cultural or artistic traditions.
Ornaments: These may include jewelry or other adornments, such as piercings, headgear, or other decorative items, that reflect the aesthetics of particular cultures or subcultures.
Musical instruments: These items reflect the various forms of music and cultural expressions in different communities.
Literature items: This can range from ancient inscriptions to modern literary works.
Transportation: This includes the material objects used in transportation, including boats and ships, carts, bicycles, and cars.
Architecture: This category includes buildings, monuments, and other structures that reflect the architecture and cultural traditions of particular communities.
Ritual items: These might include objects used in religious practices, such as ceremonial masks, idols, sacrificial objects, and incense burners.
- "It includes the usage, consumption, creation, and trade of objects as well as the behaviors, norms, and rituals that the objects create or take part in."
- "Some scholars also include other intangible phenomena that include sound, smell and events, while some even consider language and media as part of it."
- "The term is most commonly used in archaeological and anthropological studies, to define material or artifacts as they are understood in relation to specific cultural and historic contexts, communities, and belief systems."
- "Material culture can be described as any object that humans use to survive, define social relationships, represent facets of identity, or benefit peoples' state of mind, social, or economic standing."
- "Material culture is contrasting to symbolic culture, which includes nonmaterial symbols, beliefs, and social constructs."
- "The scholarly analysis of material culture, which can include both human-made and natural or altered objects, is called material culture studies."
- "It tells of the relationships between people and their things: the making, history, preservation, and interpretation of objects."
- "It draws on both theory and practice from the social sciences and humanities such as art history, archaeology, anthropology, history, historic preservation, folklore, archival science, literary criticism, and museum studies, among others." Note: As an AI language model, my responses are generated based on the information provided in your question. I do not have real-time access to the paragraph you posted.