Experimental Archaeology

Experiment Background

Unfortunately, no intact furnaces survive. Only the base plates for these potential furnaces and an additional scattering of sherds exist in the archaeological record. Thus, the shape of the body, lid, and chimneys must be inferred and then tested through experimental bead production.

10th EAC Leiden 2017
***Central to anthropology is the concept of participant observation, where a researcher engages in immersive learning through ethnographic fieldwork. This concept is also important for archaeologists as immersive learning provides an avenue for more robust interpretation and the development of...

The Society of Experimental Prehistoric Archaeology (SEPA, www.keap.umk.pl) is an organisation affiliated with the Nicolaus Copernicus University’s Institute of Archaeology since 1998. The first academic supervisor of SEPA was Jolanta Małecka-Kukawka, now led by Grzegorz Osipowicz...

The exceptional preservation of organic material in the early Neolithic site of La Draga (Banyoles, north-east Iberian Peninsula) has allowed lines of research that had rarely been undertaken in the region. The research project carried out at the site of La Draga involves experimental archaeology as a...

In field archaeology, the importance of non-diagnostic sherds is often overlooked. This archaeological experiment suggests that archaeologists should take into greater consideration, contexts where sherds are found grouped together in close proximity. The authors tested a series of experimental drops of modern pots...

Bronze is an alloy of copper and tin, with lead also added. Hellenistic and Roman bronze objects have a variable percentage of metals, and because of this the colour of the alloy will differ depending on the proportions. The colour of the alloy can be maintained by polishing, but it is also possible to give a patina to the surface of bronze using a reagent...

The premise

The author is currently studying for a PhD in experimental archaeology at the University of the Aegean. The focus of the research involves the recreation of a 4th Century B.C. wall painting (Tomb of Persephone, Vergina) using the same pigments and painting method that was used by the ancient painter. In this project, we sought to identify the painting technique used, and wanted to demonstrate the way in which the wall was painted. The technique that was used in the tomb is a variation of the fresco technique, which is why we examined similar methods.

Prototypes, situation, general description

Especially impressive are the often massive ruins of dwelling foundations referred to as 'oncolithic' in my typology (for details see Beckmann 2012a).These foundations neutralize the often steep slope incline they are built upon, so that the original houses would have stood in a horizontal position. The settlement pattern and surface findings indicate that these installations were vernacular in character and probably housed mixed agricultural farms (ibid.).

In 1993, the remains of a wooden boat were uncovered during drainage works north of the village of Gislinge, on the island of Sjælland in Denmark (Gøthche 1995). Now reclaimed agricultural land, the area had once been part of the shallow Lammefjord, itself connected to the Isefjord and the open sea...

Introduction and goals

The goal of this project, started in 2012, was to reconstruct a Bronze Age hut using techniques, methods, and raw materials consistent with the knowledge acquired during the excavation of Tornambè site (Pietraperzia, Enna), and from other known Sicilian and Southern Italian archaeological contexts.