Neolithic
Investigation of the Practical Functions of Fluting on Throwing Sticks and on Other Ethnological Wooden Artefacts
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Why are the surfaces of some Australian throwing sticks fluted? According to a previous research, this feature could positively influence their flight, but this effect does not explain the function of fluting on other wooden artefacts (shields, clubs, containers) which are not used as projectiles. The former function of flutes is probably to be found among others type of wooden implements from which it has been transferred to throwing sticks...
Dug Boat Dance: Contemporary Body and Prehistoric Experience
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Prehistoric rock art in Northern Europe repeatedly shows people standing, jumping, and dancing in a boat. Especially in Finland, rock paintings and the related offerings were made specifically from a boat. In 2023, dancer Arttu Peltoniemi conducted an artistic-scientific experiment called Dug Boat Dance to explore whether it is possible to dance in a boat, and what kind of movements and bodily sensations this might generate. The three-month-long experiment was carried out in a Stone Age-style dugout canoe, using the dancer's body and somaesthetic experiences as research tools...
Clusters of plasters - An Experimental Analysis of Plaster Production in Prehistoric Cyprus
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Two distinct types of plaster were produced in prehistoric Cyprus: the lime plaster and the havara plaster. The latter was obtained by mixing the local secondary limestone (havara) with water, with no pyrotechnological process involved. Because lime plaster and havara plaster have very similar characteristics, archaeologists often struggle to distinguish them in the field. An experimental study was undertaken to produce new data that could aid in examining the manufacturing techniques of prehistoric plaster materials in Cyprus...
As Dear as Salt - Indications for an Ancient Plant Ash Tradition Preserved in Old World Folktale
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Do folktale heroines tell of a prehistoric plant ash use? The culinary use of plant ash is an ancient technology nearly extinct worldwide and completely absent from Eurasian cultural history. Despite the lack of this technology´s historical documentation, folktales provide a rich yet underestimated corpus on salt and ash. The denotation of the physical substances as well as the related narrative structures are investigated throughout several tale types...
Black Ash - a Forgotten Domestication Trait in Garden Orach (Atriplex hortensis L.)
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Garden Orach (Atriplex hortensis L.) is a vegetable plant of minor importance but with a wide distribution throughout the Old World and beyond. Previous research revealed its diverse medicinal and magical importance in prehistory. Here, Orach’s special ability to retain sodium even in non-saline ground is introduced. The outstandingly high concentrations of sodium in dry plant matter and plant ash suggest its use as a salt substitute, manifested in an early domestication trait. Special attention is paid to the variability of this trait in cultivars from different geographic regions and within the genus Atriplex. ..
Neanderthals in the Rain: Assessing Neanderthals' Strategies to Survive Wet and Cold Environments through an Experimental Analysis
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Neanderthals' adaptations to cold climates have been extensively debated, however, limited attention has been given to their survival in cold and wet environments. These conditions increase the dangers of cold-induced injuries such as frostbite or hypothermia, as wet clothing loses its insulative capacities. This research explores whether and how Neanderthals faced such changes and their implications on activities and behaviours...
An Experimental Investigation of Alternative Neolithic Harvesting Tools
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Harvesting tools have seldom been found during excavations at Neolithic sites in North-Western Europe but cereal consumption was widely practiced in that region, as grain discovered in settlements showed. Several researchers have, over the last 50 years, highlighted this discrepancy between missing harvesting tools and the presence of cereal grains...
Does the Addition of Manganese Dioxide Aid in The Production of An Ember when Using Strike-A-Light Technology With Horse Hoof Fungus? A Potential Neanderthal Technology
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Recent archaeological and experimental work suggests that Neanderthals may have been purposefully gathering manganese dioxide to aid in their fire lighting. Given the evidence for complex Neanderthal pyro-technology, this appears to be a plausible hypothesis. In this paper, we add to the experimental testing of this hypothesis by ...
Nesshenge: an Experimental Neolithic Henge with 15 Years of Exposure
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Our understanding of the planning processes involved before any Neolithic structure was physically built, from the moment when it was conceived in a person’s mind up to the point of its construction requires further investigation for which experimental archaeology can provide some direction...
Experimental Approach to Flint Shaft Mining: Understanding the Extraction Process and the Technical Gesture at Casa Montero (Madrid, Spain)
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Since prehistory, human populations have developed specific knowledge related to the excavating and exploitation of underground resources. These abilities are reflected in the tools used to extract and process raw materials and the use of specific architectural expressions such as rock-cut tombs...