Featured in the EXARC Journal

Experimental Archaeology

Experiments on Painting Viking Age Woodwork

Author(s)
Nanna Friis Hellström 1 ✉,
Anna Vebæk Gelskov 1,
Sofie Louise Andersen 1,
Henriette Lyngstrøm 1
Publication Date
Traditionally, studies on Viking Age pigmentation have focused on the minerals used to produce colours. The research conducted in this article concerns other factors, that might have influenced painted wood such as surface treatments, outlines, and paint components...

An Experimental Reconstruction of Hair Colours from the Jin and Tang Dynasties (265-907 AD) in China

Author(s)
Bangcheng Tang 1 ✉,
Yan Xue 2,
Yijie Yan 2,
Bo Yuan 2
Publication Date

Introduction

In China, ancient hair colours can be categorised into herbal and mineral hair colours. Since the Jin Dynasty (265-420 AD), the recipes for herbal and mineral hair colours have been clearly documented in ancient books, such as Zhou Hou Bei Ji Fang (The Handbook of Prescriptions for Emergencies), compiled in the Eastern Jin Dynasty (317-420 AD), who recorded ‘ran faxu, bailingheifang’ [a prescription for colouring white hair and beards black] (Ge, p.146), a hair colour using vinegar and beans as raw materials to colour grey hair to turn it black.

Scraping Seal Skins with Mineral Additives

Author(s)
Lasse van den Dikkenberg 1 ✉,
Diederik Pomstra 1,
Annelou van Gijn 1
Publication Date
Neolithic scrapers from the Vlaardingen Culture (3400-2500 BC) display a variety of hide-working traces, amongst which traces interpreted as being the result of contact with dry hide. It has been suggested that, potentially, some of these implements were used to scrape fatty hides with mineral additives. Therefore, a series of experiments...