Featured in the EXARC Journal

Ancient Technology

Birch Bark Glue and its Potential Use in Neanderthal Clothing: A Pilot Study

Author(s)
Phoebe Baker 1 ✉,
Christopher Scott 1,
Peter Gethin 1,
Anthony Sinclair 1
Publication Date
Evidence that Neanderthals had mastered the production of birch bark tar as an adhesive has generated important and timely debate concerning behavioural complexity. Increased resolution of the data on palaeo-climatic conditions has also brought into sharp focus the need for hominins living in high latitudes to possess complex cultural mechanisms to deal with cold environments...

Roman Bone Artefacts – First Steps Towards a New Approach

Author(s)
Hildegard Müller 1 ✉,
Sabine Deschler-Erb 1,
Dorota Wojtczak 1
Publication Date
To date, archaeologists often use a typological approach to assess the functions of bone artefacts from the Roman period. In some of these assigned typological groups, certain artefacts do not have a clear definition. This study aimed to assess whether use-wear analysis combined with experimental archaeology could be applied to bone artefacts from the Roman period as ...

Before They Dyed. Mordants and Assists in the Textile Dyeing Process in Anglo-Saxon and Anglo-Scandinavian Britain: An Experimental Approach

Author(s)
Katarzyna Stasińska 1
Publication Date
The experiment aimed to investigate certain aspects of the textile dyeing process in Anglo-Scandinavian and Anglo-Saxon Britain: substances known as mordants and assists. This aspect of the dyeing process is often omitted by researchers, who mostly focus on dyestuff as a source of colour. Mordants and assists deserve wider research, however, as they play a great part in the dyeing process...