Ancient Technology
Needlework the Pazyryk Way?
My work has been inspired by some of the most remarkable textile finds - those in the Pazyryk kurgans (burial mounds) - specifically the felt shabraks (horse blankets). The detailed, intricate designs of these items are achieved by appliquéing felt on felt (sometimes leather is used) in a manner that adds both decoration and strength (See Figure 1) and is still used among the steppe-land nomads (Barber 1991, 220).
Experiments on Possible Stone Age Glue Types
Experience with Building Mesolithic Huts in the Stone Age Park Dithmarschen in 2014
***Two new huts in the Stone Age Park Dithmarschen in Albersdorf (Germany) were built in spring 2014 by the Experimental Archaeologist and Educator Werner Pfeifer with the support of some friends and with financial support from the Stone Age Park Dihmarschen and the EU co-financed project OpenArch.
Knapping Skill Assessment
***This article is derived from a presentation made by the senior author at the OpenArch Conference "Working with stones in European Pre- and Proto-history in theory and in practice" organised by the Archaeological-Ecological Centre Albersdorf (DE), 23-27 September, 2013.
Making Wine like Iberians: a Learning Experience with the International Workcamp at La Ciutadella Ibèrica of Calafell
The international workcamp in Calafell
The workcamps in Calafell are coordinated by the Fundació Pere Tarrés, a non-profit organisation of social action devoted to the promotion of leisure education and volunteering among other objectives, and the municipality of Calafell is one of the organisations that support these workcamps. So far La Ciutadella Ibèrica has held three of these projects (2010, 2012 and 2013) with international volunteers being the core theme of the activity.
Reinventing the Egyptian Pulley
***The Egyptian pulley incorporates several novel, useful features. The design involves only significant compressive loading of its two components. The materials of construction are high compressive strength materials...
From the Soil to the Iron Product - the Technology of Medieval Iron Smelting
***Nowadays, the development of technology rushes past the people of the machine-based technical civilisation, therefore they fail to understand the technological wonders that surround them. One of these is the ancient technology of iron smelting...
Reconstructing a Prehistoric Fish Trap
Introduction
The conical fish trap with a funnel entry is used mainly in standing waters, slow streams and tidal areas.Fish traps without a funnel can be used where a strong current prevents the fish from swimming out again, but in slow-moving water, the funnel is indispensable to block the way out and keep the fish penned (Brinkhuizen, 1983:8-53).
Stone Moulds from Terramare (Northern Italy): Analytical Approach and Experimental Reproduction
Introduction
Although a long list of publications has been dedicated over the last several decades to the questions concerning early metallurgy, the achievements and the potential contributions of experimental archaeology in this area of interest still remain quite underestimated by a consistent part of academia, at least in Italy. At some official occasions the debate between the theoretical knowledge-holders and the technical skill-holders strongly emerges, but very few come back home with a true increased respect and acceptance for the counterpart's work.