material culture
Americannoun
Etymology
Origin of material culture
First recorded in 1925–30
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
In addition, the museum’s curators tended to be specialized in material culture — collecting and studying the museum’s several million objects and artifacts — rather than in conceptual storytelling.
From Salon ● Sep. 25, 2026
On top of its potential communicative importance and intrinsic value as a cultural behavior, accumulative stone throwing involves durable primate material culture, the loss of which would constitute the erasure of primate heritage.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 28, 2026
Each bay presents an aspect of samurai life, collectively producing a robust representation of Edo-period visual and material culture.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 7, 2026
The burials had scanty grave goods—a bead and a dog paw—so it’s hard to connect them to any particular material culture.
From Science Magazine ● Jun. 19, 2024
A population of 4,000 was able to survive for 10,000 years, but with significant cultural losses and significant failures to invent, leaving it with a uniquely simplified material culture.
From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond
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