ABSTRACT
Objects are the most varied and numerous of the social codes, covering the widest range. Anything made by human hands for human purposes can be considered an object, thus the topic is broad, including everything from household items (teapots) to ritual items (candlesticks), frorn gifts (children's birthday presents) to buildings (houses). Clothing technically fits the description of something made by humans for humans and fits in this category as well, but by convention it is deemed sufficientiy important to merit separate consideration. Objects accompany food (the refrigerator it is stored in, the pots it is cooked in, the dishes it is served in, the table it is eaten on), and clothing (the hangers and drawers used for storing the clothes, the objects worn with the clothing called accessories, the suitcases containing the clothes when traveling). And sorne few straddle the boundary between clothing and object: In which category do masks fit, for example?l
Wherever people go and whatever they do, they make objects for their own use. Like food, sorne objects are physically necessary (shelter to protect from the weather, tools for agriculture, needles for sewing). Objects are a human universal-every group makes sorne sort of objects for themselves, though the categories vary widely. Sorne animals are capable of rnaking tools, though none produce the profusion of objects accompanying hu~an settlement. Thus, the term horno¡aber, people as makers and users of objects, is an appropriate appellation.
