Biofact

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In philosophy, sociology and the arts, a biofact is a hybrid between artifact and living being, or between concepts of nature and technology. It was introduced as a neologism in 2001 by the German philosopher Nicole C. Karafyllis and fuses the words artifact and bios.

In archaeology, a biofact or ecofact is an object, found at an archaeological site and carrying archaeological significance, but (unlike an artifact) not altered by human hands.

A common type of biofact is a plant seed. A seed can be linked to the species of plant that produced it; if large numbers of seeds of an edible species are found at a site, it may be inferred that that species was being grown for food there. Another type of biofact is an (uncarved) wooden roof beam. Dendrochronological analysis of some wood samples can help to determine the date during which a site was occupied. Yet another example of a biofact is a bone.

[edit] Literature

Nicole C. Karafyllis (ed.): Biofakte - Versuch über den Menschen zwischen Artefakt und Lebewesen. Paderborn, Mentis 2003 (in German).

Nicole C. Karafyllis: Biofakte - Grundlagen, Probleme, Perspektiven. Discussion Unit in the journal Deliberation Knowledge Ethics / Erwaegen Wissen Ethik, Vol. 17, Nr. 4 (2006). (in German with English abstracts)