Experimental Archaeology

Experimental Archaeology is an approach for filling gaps in our knowledge about the past, which cannot be filled through other archaeological research methods. An archaeological experiment must always answer a specific research question through practically testing production, use and/or formation of material culture and/or archaeological features. In Experimental Archaeology, testing a hypothesis in direct reference to the archaeological record is the core activity. The information gained should be impossible to obtain from solely examining original artefacts. The practice of experimental archaeology is strongly connected to the other four legs of EXARC as growing craft experience as well as interpretation can also lead to research questions and experimental projects.

(De)constructing the Mesolithic. A History of Hut Reconstructions in the Netherlands

Author(s)

Yannick de Raaff ¹ ✉

Publication Date

2020-02-25

EXARC Journal Issue 2020/1

Introduction

Creating reconstructions of the past has occupied a central position within the archaeological discipline from its early days (Clark, 2010, p.64). Reconstructions are often considered essential for visualizing the past and for translating abstract archaeological remains into more comprehensible narratives for the larger audience. Such visualisations, in the broad range of the word, can be more easily and readily understood than a complicated textual description.

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Hafted Tool-use Experiments with Australian Aboriginal Plant Adhesives: Triodia Spinifex, Xanthorrhoea Grass Tree and Lechenaultia divaricata Mindrie

Author(s)

Veerle Rots ¹ ✉,

Elspeth Hayes ²,

Kim Akerman ³,

Philip Green ⁶,

Chris Clarkson ^4,5,

Christian Lepers ¹,

Luc Bordes ⁷,

Conor McAdams ²,

Elizabeth Foley ⁸,

Richard Fullagar ²

Publication Date

2020-02-25

EXARC Journal Issue 2020/1

Hafted stone tools commonly figure in Australian archaeology but hafting traces and manufacture processes are infrequently studied. The Aboriginal processing of resin from Xanthorrhoea (Sol. Ex Sm.) grass tree, Triodia (R.Br.) spinifex and Lechenaultia divaricata (F.Muell.)...

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Barely Scratching the Surface: An Experimental Approach to Engraved Magdalenian Plaquettes

Author(s)

Matthew Amy ¹ ✉

Publication Date

2020-02-25

EXARC Journal Issue 2020/1

This paper investigates the creation, utilisation, and destruction of engraved Magdalenian plaquettes through the application of actualistic experimental replication. Archaeological evidence suggests that there is a relationship between plaquettes and hearth structures, as well as engraved depictions and the destruction of the plaquettes through heating. However, this relationship between fire and plaquettes...

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Recommended Literature

COLES, J.M., 1979. Experimental Archaeology, London: Academic Press.

FERGUSON, J.R., 2010. Designing Experimental Research in Archaeology: Examining Technology through Production and Use, Boulder: University Press of Colorado.

HURCOMBE, L., CUNNINGHAM, P, 2016. The life cycle of structures in experimental archaeology: An object biography approach, Leiden: Sidestone Press.

INGERSOLL, D., YELLEN, J.E. & MACDONALD, W., 1977. Experimental archeology, New York: Columbia University Press.

KELTERBORN, P., 2005. Principles of Experimental Research in Archaeology, EuroREA, (Re)construction and Experiment in Archaeology – European Platform, 2, 120-122.

MALINA, J., 1983. Archaeology and Experiment, Norwegian Archaeological Review, 16:2, 69-85.

MATHIEU, J., 2002. Introduction - Experimental Archaeology - Replicating Past Objects, Behaviors, and Processes, Mathieu, J. (ed.) Experimental Archaeology, replicating past objects, behaviors and processes, BAR International Series 1035, 1-12.

OUTRAM, A.K., 2008. Introduction to Experimental Archaeology, World Archaeology 40:1, 1-7