Starting from two artifacts and a concept associated with artifacts, the article seeks to present the discipline 'material culture'. The discussion is structured from the point of view of some authors. After an historical contextualization, material culture is presented not only as a set of things and material contexts useful to man in his social life, but mainly as the dimension marked by the expansion of physical and intellectual capacities to the societies. The use of the term 'culture' throughout the text requires the mediation of meanings and values. The paper presents the basic concepts that, in its own perspective, enable a better understanding of the discipline: meaning, corporality, and analogy, as structuring the discussion and the scientific approach to the subject.
Material culture; Anthropology; Corporality; Historicity