Relict
The formation of relicts as a sign of change
Every relict has a specific function in that it stands for the reconstruction of a past time. With the relict, as with tradition, one can therefore speak of cultural fixation.
Whereas tradition is the effect of a deliberate or accidental fixation, the relict can also represent an object that initially, from a different context – occasion – for whatever reason, was fixed in a certain state. It could not evolve from the current status it was in. It lost its original function or was no longer sufficient for its function. But since the object is still there, it has continued to be transmiIed, but now in its given functionlessness.
Relicts are therefore objects that were previously created for a specific function, usually in a context, but were not specifically preserved, but have lost their function, but continue to exist.
A relict is also what remains when one has forgoIen everything that constituted its context.
