Beyond their obvious artistic beauty and cultural importance, artifacts can
say as much or more about the people who made them than a written
document.  Behind every object is a story about its meaning and
construction, its owners and creators.  The most apparent information
artifacts can give us are the styles of art, clothing, and architecture of their
times. Further, we can often expand upon our knowledge of belief systems
during the time the work was made. Many objects can clearly show us the
exchange of ideas between regions and cultures.

        Artifacts, however, can tell us more than just cultural beliefs and styles. 
Many pieces, especially bronzes, make us appreciate the amount of
infrastructure and knowledge needed to create these objects. 
Without roads, trade systems, and specialized labor, many pieces could
not have been made, and others could not advance into new forms.  When
the infrastructure and complex society needed to create art is taken into
account, it is clear that a stable government was necessary.  Combined with
other information, such as inscriptions and the numbers and types of
objects put in tombs, we can develop an idea of the structure of the
government that allowed for these works.  Here, we will discuss how these
objects tell us about the world they came from, even after thousands of years.

        - Horses with riders
        - Bronze Li
        - Court Lady
        - Two Attendants