HUM 200 Project: Cultural Artifacts and Understanding Human History

This essay discusses the importance of cultural artifacts in understanding human history, focusing on Johannes Vermeer's "Milkmaid" painting and the "Venus of Hohle Fels" figure. The "Milkmaid" painting highlights the cultural importance and value of women in society, while the "Venus of Hohle Fels" represents the earliest depiction of humankind, offering insights into the origins of human life. Both artifacts serve as vital sources of information about early civilizations and share the common theme of emphasizing the significance of the human race. The essay concludes that cultural artifacts, such as paintings and sculptures, are essential for comprehending historical accounts and hold deep inner meanings that make them alluring and significant.

Running head: IMPORTANCE OF CULTURAL ARTIFACTS
Importance of cultural artifacts
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1IMPORTANCE OF CULTURAL ARTIFACTS
Culture forms an integral part of an individual’s life. This is essential as the
characteristics of a person is largely determined by his culture. Culture is a broad term which is
used to define individual aspects such as those of music, paintings, sculptures, literature, dance
forms and others (Barrere, 2016). All of these cultural aspects marks the distinguishing feature of
a particular community, separating one community from another (Sfarra et al., 2016). This essay
seeks to discuss the importance of cultural artifacts in the lives of individuals and the
important information provided by them. For this purpose, two cultural artifacts have been
discussed, one of the painting of Milkmaid and the second is that of Venus of Hohle Fels.
The painting of Milkmaid, also known as the Kitchen Maid, has been painted by the
renowned painter Johannes Vermeer (Vermeer, 1958). This painting is currently hosted in the
museum of Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam in Netherlands. It is difficult to accurately pinpoint the
year in which this painting was painted. However, according to the Museum known as
Metropolitan Museum of Art located in the New York City, the painting was painted in the year
1657 or 1658. The painting is quite significant because of the depiction it tries to show. In the
painting the figure of a woman milking the cows is shown (Vermeer, 1958). The activity done by
the woman in this age and day is inspiring. It shows the value of a woman in the society as she is
milking the cows who provides the essential milk needed for the survival of human kind.
There are three humanities resources concept that can be observed here. First is the
concept of cultural importance. Culture has a way of showing what is important to us. Second is
the concept of humanity. The depiction of humanity through the medium of culture gives us
ample information. The third humanities concept is that of art. The medium of art is one of the
richest information sources about human history.

2IMPORTANCE OF CULTURAL ARTIFACTS
The figure of Venus of Hohle Fels is made of ivory and belongs to the Upper Paleolithic
Age. This figure was discovered in the year 2008 in Germany, near a place known as
Schelklingen, in Hohle Fels (King, 2015). It is believed that the figure was made around forty
thousand years to thirty thousand years ago. The importance of this figure lies in the fact that this
figure is the earliest depiction of human kind. The origin of first life on Earth is still highly
disputed as there is no conclusive evidence to pinpoint the exact date in which first life appeared.
As a result, any pieces of artifact which points toward the origin of human kind is held in high
regard. The figure of Venus of Hohle Fels is currently housed in the prehistoric Museum of
Blaubeuren (Franklin & Habgood, 2015). The cultural artifact is quite significant as it is the
oldest known human art on figure. Both the pieces of cultural artifacts are important to the
audience as it tells them about their history and historical significance (Cosentino, 2016). The
target audience are the ones who are interested in the depiction of the human race. The
common theme between both the artifacts is that they show the importance of the human race.
The similarity between both the artifacts is that they are important sources of information about
the early civilization. The difference between them is that the painting of the Milkmaid is gender
empowering and it shows to the audience how a simple activity of milking the cows is significant
for the very survival of the human race. The cultural artifact of Venus of Hohle Fels is important
as it refers to the earliest origin of the human kind. This is scientifically significant as there are
relatively scare evidences available which tells us about the first time that life appeared on Earth
(Vinciguerra et al., 2016). The observation of both the artifacts personally left me in awe as they
had the charm and sanctity which demanded such expressions.
In conclusion it is observed that cultural artifacts like those of paintings, sculptures,
dance forms, music among others are important to understand the past historical accounts of

3IMPORTANCE OF CULTURAL ARTIFACTS
human kind. The way the culture is expressed through the medium of these artifacts are a wonder
to the people as they hold a deep inner meaning to them. It is the abstract feature of the cultural
artifacts which makes them alluring.

4IMPORTANCE OF CULTURAL ARTIFACTS
References:
Barrere, C. (2016). Cultural heritages: From official to informal. City, Culture and Society, 7(2),
87-94.
Cosentino, A. (2016). Scientific examination of cultural heritage raises awareness in local
communities: the case of the newly discovered cycle of mural paintings in the Crucifix
Chapel (Italy). Cultural heritage science open source project report 2016.
Franklin, N. R., & Habgood, P. J. (2015). Representation of scarification on the Venus of Hohle
Fels. Rock Art Research, 32(2), 231.
King, R. (2015). Venus in Mammoth Furs: Modern Minds with Dark Corners?. Mankind
Quarterly, 55(3), 205.
Sfarra, S., Ibarra-Castanedo, C., Tortora, M., Arrizza, L., Cerichelli, G., Nardi, I., & Maldague,
X. (2016). Diagnostics of wall paintings: a smart and reliable approach. Journal of
Cultural Heritage, 18, 229-241.
Vermeer, J. (1958). The milkmaid. Donald Art Company.
Vinciguerra, R., De Chiaro, A., Pucci, P., Marino, G., & Birolo, L. (2016). Proteomic strategies
for cultural heritage: From bones to paintings. Microchemical Journal, 126, 341-348.