An artefact, also spelled artifact, is an object that has been made by a person, such as a tool or a decoration, especially one that is of historical or cultural interest. The term can also refer to something characteristic of or resulting from a particular human institution, period, trend, or individual. In the context of archaeology, artefacts are objects that have been recovered from the ground and are studied to learn about past human activity. The term can also be used in the context of digital images, where it refers to a defect in an image that appears as a result of the technology and methods used to create and process the image.