Experimental Archaeology

הפורום הישראלי לארכיאולוגיה ניסויית - The Israeli Forum for Experimental Archaeology (IL)

The Israeli Forum for Experimental Archaeology was established in order to connect archaeologists, field and laboratory researchers and practitioners of ancient crafts, with an emphasis on collaboration, knowledge sharing and public engagement.

Our members come from a range of fields; academics, Living History groups, museum workers, educators, craftspeople, archaeologists and more. Thus, we aim to link persons involved with experimental archaeology in Israel and create a place to share, consult and learn, along with other experts engaged in the field. In addition, we endeavour to create experiment databases and coordinate experiments, workshops, and conferences. Our dogma is that through experimental archaeology, people from different backgrounds can advance research by sharing knowledge, experience and facilities.

Experiment with Kindling Oil Lamps

Aleksei Vaiman (IL)
EXARC Journal Issue 2020/3
Experimental Archaeology
This article deals with the daily technology of ceramic oil lamps from the period of the 1st century AD until the first half of the 7th century AD. The questions underlying in this article include the following: How long did combustion take and what was its intensity? Were wicks pulled and when? Was the oil poured into an already-burning lamp to increase the burning time, as Dr. Amar Zohar, of Bar Ilan University suggests?...

Roe Deer as Raw Material for Middle Mesolithic Fishhooks? An Experimental Approach to the Manufacture of Small Bone Fishhooks

Anja Mansrud and
Morten Kutschera (NO)
EXARC Journal Issue 2020/3
Experimental Archaeology
Bone fishhooks have occasionally been retrieved from bone assemblages at coastal sites dating to the Middle Mesolithic phase (8300-6300 cal. BC) in Southern Norway and Western Sweden. Several studies of fishhooks from these sites have been undertaken in recent years. Fishhooks can be manufactured from different osseous materials, including antler, ribs and shafts of different long bones...

Experimental Research on the Neanderthal Musical Instrument from Divje Babe I Cave (Slovenia)

Matija Turk (SL) and
Giuliano Bastiani (IT)
EXARC Journal Issue 2020/3
Experimental Archaeology
11th EAC Trento 2019
***The supposition that an unusually perforated femur of a juvenile cave bear found at the Divje babe I Palaeolithic cave site in Slovenia could be a musical instrument led to heated debates. According to its archaeological context and chronostratigraphic position, if made by humans, it could only be attributed to Neanderthals...

Enhancing the Accuracy of Use Interpretation: The Discovering of New Wear Formation with the Complementary Methods of Experimental Archaeology and Use-Wear Analysis

Amber Roy (UK)
EXARC Journal Issue 2020/3
Experimental Archaeology
11th EAC Trento 2019
***Experimental archaeology and use-wear analysis are methods used together to understand aspects of an object’s life, such as manufacture and use. This paper demonstrates the benefits of analysing use-wear through experiments. It presents the results of experiments which were carried out to test the use of battle-axes and axe-hammers...

Ceramicists, Apprentices or Part-Timers? On the Modelling and Assembling of Peak Sanctuary Figurines

Céline Murphy (IE)
EXARC Journal Issue 2020/3
Experimental Archaeology
The question of who made peak sanctuary figurines has frequently been raised but seldom deeply examined. The assumption that the aesthetically refined pieces were carefully made by skilled ‘artists’ while the less visually pleasing ones were rapidly made by low-skilled ‘artisans’ has consequently endured. Revisiting these conclusions from a materially inclusive perspective that...

Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (BR)

Member of EXARC
No

Grupo de Estudos do Simbólico e Técnico da Olaria (Pottery Symbolic and Technical Study Group, (GESTO) is an active group in the area of Minas Gerais, Brazil, which focuses on practicing South American pottery techniques through experimental archaeology.

Their main focus is to spread archaeological knowledge, in particular the reproduction of all stages of traditional Amerindian pottery techniques, from the collection of raw materials to the reproduction of objects and the baking with wood fires. The group was born out of the great interest that students of the Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais had for experimental techniques of pottery reproduction. Now led by Prof.

University of Alberta (CA)

Member of EXARC
No

The University of Alberta is one of the top 5 institutions in Canada and is known nationally and internationally for their innovative research. They aim to foster creativity through a mixture of theoretical and practical courses. Through the Undergraduate Research Initiative, students of all levels of education can access funding for research and creative activities.

Department of Anthropology

The Department of Anthropology specializes in archaeology, biological anthropology, and socio-cultural anthropology. Courses are offered in Prehistory, Indigenous and Prairie Archaeology, as well as human skeletal and dental biology, disease processes in antiquity, and forensic anthropology. They have a number of different reference collections and laboratory spaces, including the Bryan/Gruhn Ethnographic Collection and a Photographic Studio.

Universidade de São Paulo (BR)

Member of EXARC
No

The University of São Paulo (USP) (founded in 1827) is the biggest university in Brazil and the most prestigious in Latin America. The Laboratory for Human Evolutionary Studies (LEEH), leaded by Mercedes Okumura (since 2018), is run by the Institute of Biosciences and the only one in Latin America dedicated to the study of Human Biocultural Evolution.

Our research focus on the biocultural evolution of past human groups, mostly through the analysis of human skeletons, faunal remains, pottery, and stone tools. Currently, experimental archaeology is part of our main research projects, including the replication of stone and bone tools produced by ancient hunter-gatherer groups in the Americas, and by Paleolithic groups from Southern Europe, Northern Africa, and the Middle East. The replication of such tools aims to further understand the lithic and bone technology of the past, as well as to produce reference collections.

National Institute of Advanced Studies (IN)

Member of EXARC
No

National Institute of Advanced Studies (NIAS) is a premier institute in India engaged in interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary research in natural sciences, social sciences, arts and humanities. 

It was founded by J. R. D Tata for providing an avenue for administrators, managers and social leaders for interaction and exchange of information with notable academics in the areas of science, arts and humanities. With these objectives, the institute conducts multi-level research programmes and mentors talented doctoral students. The institution, based in Bengaluru, in the south Indian state of Karnataka, started functioning on 20 June 1988 with Dr. Raja Ramanna as its founder director.