Studying Material Culture allows us to learn the truth about the past culture issues. Materical Culture is a study through artifacts of the belief systems, the values, ideas, attitudes, and assumptions of a particular community or society, usually across time (Schlerech 2). Material is recursive, not just a product or reflection of culture. It is imbedded in culture; it is symbolic (Martin and Garrison 15). Culture is very important to most people. It is needed for social life; it helps maintain order in their lives, gives meaning of life, helps communicate with others, and helps to raise new generations of people who can continue to live an work together (Hicks and Gwynne's 47).
The main three aspects of Material Culture study are Anthropology, Social History, and Art History. Anthropology is the study of culture behavior in humans. Comparing the culture of different groups of humans an discovering internal and cross-cultural rules by which people behave (Martin and Garrison 4). Social history is the study of the understanding of family life an the material world; and learning the lives an roles of slaves and woman. Art history is the study of appraising and evaluating the visual study of an object.
Researchers study objects such as construction, architecture, landscape, furniture, behaviors in humans, and technology in order to write, teach, and publicize past human activity. So, why study Material Culture? Marterial culture teaches us about past culture life. IT gives us a better understanding of the race, class, ethnicity, an gender issues that occurred in the past.