Ancient Technology

Traction Trebuchet

Author(s)
Siri Hjelsvold 1 ✉,
Simon McCallum 2
Publication Date
EXARC Journal Issue 2018/3
The trebuchet, in all its forms, was very much in vogue in the reenactment and research community in the 1980s and 1990s. Several museums around the world have also built their own, with Middelaldercenteret in Nykøbing Falster in Denmark as one of the first modern examples of counterweight trebuchet (Hansen, 1989). Despite the multitude of builds, very little has been published about...

Animal Teeth in a Late Mesolithic Woman’s Grave, Reconstructed as a Rattling Ornament on a Baby Pouch

Author(s)
Riitta Rainio 1 ✉,
Annemies Tamboer 2
Publication Date
EXARC Journal Issue 2018/1
10th EAC Leiden 2017
***In one of the Late Mesolithic graves at Skateholm, Sweden, dating from 5500–4800 BC, was buried a woman together with a newborn baby. Altogether 32 perforated wild boar (Sus scrofa) teeth, along with traces of red ochre pigment, were found in this grave. We interpreted these artefacts as a rattling ornament decorating a baby pouch...

Adze-plane, Skeparnon, Multipurpose Adze or Two-handled Adze? Practical Work with an Alleged Predecessor of the Woodworking Plane

Author(s)
Rüdiger Schwarz 1 ✉
Publication Date
EXARC Journal Issue 2018/1
10th EAC Leiden 2017
***This article presents a practical approach to a Graeco-Roman woodworking tool called “ascia-Hobel” in the archaeological literature, respectively “adze-plane” as the corresponding English term. The tool in question consists of an often semi-circular adze-blade attached to a two-handled shaft and seems to be suited both for chopping and...

Museum Batavialand (NL)

Member of EXARC
Yes

Batavialand is both an indoor museum and a historical shipyard. Here you can see how ships are built and conserved, visit the reconstruction of the 17th century VOC ship the Batavia and find out more about the Dutch role in water management worldwide. There is special attention for the province Flevoland (which includes 450 shipwrecks) and the Zuiderzeeproject.

Batavialand is both an indoor museum and a historical shipyard. Here you can see how ships are built and conserved, visit the reconstruction of the 17th century VOC ship the Batavia and find out more about the Dutch role in water management worldwide...

Reconstruction of the Ancient Greek Long Jump - an Opportunity for Multidisciplinary Collaboration

Author(s)
Hannah Friedman 1 ✉,
Peter J. Miller 2
Publication Date
EXARC Journal Issue 2017/3
The Games of the XXXI Olympiad – the Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (5 August to 21 August, 2016) – continued the long tradition of Olympic sports, which began in ancient Greece (circa 776 BCE), and were heavily modified in their re-creation by the International Olympic Committee...

The Modern Reproduction of a Mongol Era Bow Based on Historical Facts and Ancient Technology Research

Author(s)
Jason Wayne Beever 1,
Zoran Pavlović 2 ✉
Publication Date
EXARC Journal Issue 2017/2
This bow was a concept, commissioned from Ulrich Velthuysen, a Swedish archer. This horn bow could be classified as a post-conquest design from early 14th century AD Mongolia. In this article, I will describe, step-by-step, the gathering and processing of materials, and the construction of this design of horn bow...

Reconstruction of the Geometric Décor Technology of the Bronze Age Ceramics in Siberia

Author(s)
Eva Lamina 1 ✉
Publication Date
EXARC Journal Issue 2017/1
The grassland and forest steppes ranging from the Ural to the Altai-Sayan mountains were dominated by Andronovo Family cultures during the second millennium BC (the Bronze Age) (Koryakova & Epimakhov 2007; Мартынов 2005). The Andronovo dated ceramic series were characterized by a distinctly expressed geometric ornamentation style...

Cooking in Baskets Using Hot Rocks

Author(s)
Jonathan Thornton 1 ✉
Publication Date
EXARC Journal Issue 2016/3
Baskets are among the most ancient of human artefacts. Everyone is familiar with their most common functions as containers for transport and storage. When told that baskets have also served as cooking vessels, most people will be unable to conceive of how this is possible, yet this was a primary function of baskets for many cultures of the past, and some until the present...

Recycled Flint Cores as Teaching Tools: Flintknapping at Archaeological Open-Air Museums

Author(s)
Matthew Swieton 1 ✉,
Linda Hurcombe 1
Publication Date
EXARC Journal Issue 2016/3
This article examines the art and craft of flintknapping and how the OpenArch project has influenced the way in which this specialized body of craft-knowledge can be most efficiently presented to the public, but additionally—and more importantly—how making the most of teaching opportunities can convey a deeper interpretation to the museum-goer...

Museo de la Mineria del Pais Vasco (ES)

Member of EXARC
Yes

Mining Museum of the Basque Country - Archaeological survey along all the Basque Country to locate “ferrerias de monte”. Selected archaeological digs. Reconstruction of a medieval iron workshop due to realize public demonstrations for experimental archaeometallurgy congresses, schools and general public.

Mining Museum of the Basque Country - Archaeological survey along all the Basque Country to locate “ferrerias de monte”. Selected archaeological digs. Reconstruction of a medieval iron workshop due to realize public demonstrations for experimental archaeometallurgy congresses, schools and general public...