Artefacts (WRB)

Artefacts are one of the diagnostic materials used, in the WRB system, to discriminate some soils from others.

Description

Artefacts (from Latin ars, art, and facere, to make) are solid or liquid substances that are :

• one or both of the following :
  • created or substantially modified by humans as part of an industrial or artisanal manufacturing process
  • brought to the surface by human activity from a depth where they were not influenced by surface processes, with properties substantially different from the environment where they are placed

and :

• have substantially the same properties as when first manufactured, modified or excavated.

Examples of artefacts are bricks, pottery, glass, crushed or dressed stone, industrial waste, garbage, processed oil products, mine spoil and crude oil.

RSG in which artefacts can be observed

• Technosol

See also

• The FAO reference text, (2007 version)