United Kingdom
Conference Review: The Later Prehistoric Finds Group Conference Crafting Identities: Making and Using Objects in the Bronze and Iron Ages
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The one-day conference was held on Saturday 26th October 2019 in Edinburgh at the National Museum of Scotland. The focus was on the importance of understanding craft processes as a means of interpreting the expression of identity in prehistory. This was explored in papers that focussed on crafts and craftworkers who worked in metals, wood, glass, and ceramic materials...
Reaching Out to the Communities We are Here to Serve: Developments at the Scottish Crannog Centre
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The Scottish Crannog Centre is a small archaeological open-air museum on Loch Tay in Perthshire. It originally operated as a visitor attraction, giving people a glimpse into life in the Early Iron Age through demonstrations of ancient skills and guided tours of a reconstructed crannog – loch dwelling – based on discoveries and excavations made by the Scottish Trust for Underwater Archaeology...
The Iron Age Shepherd Sling
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The purpose of this experiment was to examine the shepherd sling to form an understanding as to why it would appear to be the most dominant missile weapon of Iron Age Britain (Harding, 2012, p.194). The experiment consisted of making and using the sling, testing its range and accuracy to reveal its strengths and limitations. This experiment was also intended to introduce a different interpretation...
Replica of the Knife 2165 found in Flixborough a Late Anglo-Saxon Period Knife with an Inlay of Twisted Bronze and Silver Wires
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This work aims to show the reconstruction of a medieval era knife that was found in Flixborough, Lincolnshire (UK). Flixborough’s Anglo-Saxon cemetery has returned a total of 11 knives that can be dated between the 8th and the 10th century AD. The specimen discussed here is known as Knife 2165 and was found in context 3417 of the site. This knife is the smallest of the inlaid knives found in Flixborough...
Conference Review: Fibres in Early Textiles, Glasgow 2019
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The scientific programme included twenty-four papers divided across six sessions over a two-day programme, with opportunity at the end of each session to ask questions to the presenters. Another seven poster presentations were accessible during the session breaks throughout the programme, as well as a number of practical demonstrations giving participants the opportunity to get hands-on with different fibres and techniques.
Spinning in Circles: the Production and Function of Upper Palaeolithic Rondelles
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Rondelles are thin, circular disc cut-outs typically made from the blade of the scapula of medium sized ungulates, such as horse or cervid. These are primarily associated with the Late Upper Palaeolithic Magdalenian and focused around northwest Europe. Rondelles are frequently...
Skills Shortage: A Critical Evaluation of the Use of Human Participants in Early Spear Experiments
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Hand-delivered spears are the earliest clear hunting technology in the archaeological record, with origins from 400,000 years ago, before the evolution of our own species. Experimental archaeological approaches to early weaponry continue to grow, and both controlled and naturalistic experiments are making significant contributions to interpreting such technologies...
Have you got the tine? Prehistoric Methods in Antler Working
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Antler working was prevalent throughout prehistory, with a breadth of intricately detailed and technologically complex antler artefacts observed within the archaeological record. In particular, during the Palaeolithic, Mesolithic, and Neolithic, antler working with flint tools would have been a time-consuming process. While the chaîne opératoire of producing certain antler artefacts has previously been explored...
Conference Review: EAStS 2018 – 1st Experimental Archaeology Student Symposium, Newcastle Upon Tyne
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On the first day of the Symposium, after a brief introduction to the conference by Marco Romeo Pitone (EXARN), a series of interesting talks were presented by post graduate students from universities across the UK and beyond.
Experimental Archaeology in the Scottish Highlands
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Over the past year, Archaeology for Communities in the Highlands (ARCH) has been running a series of experimental archaeology workshops in the Scottish Highlands. ARCH is a non-profit educational charity, providing learning opportunities inside and out for all ages, always with an eye on the legacy of the event. Our experimental archaeology project was a good example of this approach...