Can someone please explain this quote..?

Question

One way in which artifacts can contain political properties.

First, are instances in which the invention, design, or arrangement, of a specific technical system becomes a way of settling an issue in the affairs of a particular community.

Answer 1

it's saying that the design or arrangement of something may have been invented to serve 2 purposes.

for instance (totally making this up for purpose of question):

maybe an old pot that was found had a two handles on it.  the pot was used for serving tea but the reason it may have had two handles was so it may have been handed to someone (with different beliefs, race, s*x, etc.) so that niether one of them had to touch the part of the pot that the other touched.

i know bad example but the quote is saying that we can discover some political properties in artifacts found based on the way they were made and the location they were found.

the quote is much harder to explain than it is to understand... hope that helps at all.

when they talk about a technical system i think of the Nile River as an example.  perhaps there are old artifacts that show how the irrigation system was devised to help not only the rich but the poor.

Answer 2

First, I assume that technical system is a mixture of people and technology including hardware, software, physical surrounding, procedures, laws and regulations.

The second sentence means that all of these 'systems' (people, tech, laws etc.,) inventions, design and arrangements affect the way that the 'system' (people) settle their community issues.  For example, our systems setup (the world such as it is) affects our community decision making .

But I am confused as to how this relates to the first sentence...artifacts?  political properties?  

Does this make sense in the context of what you are trying to figure out...more info would be helpful.