The 10th International Experimental Archaeology Conference (held in April 2017) was hosted jointly by EXARC and Material Culture Studies, Leiden University (NL). The conference two days with 125 delegates, followed by an excursion to Eindhoven and Vlaardingen. Presenters published their papers in the EXARC Journal. A review of the conference is also available, click here to view.
The content is published under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial 4.0 License.
10th Experimental Archaeology Conference
Featured
Scientific Profit through Daily Routine
***The open-air museum Campus Galli is a construction site where we built an early medieval monastery, following the so-called “Plan of St. Gall”, an architectural drawing from the first half of the 9th century (Carolingian period) as our major reference source (cf. Schedl, 2014; Facsimile: Tremp, 2014)...
Experimental Reconstruction of a Nineteenth Century Lower Limb Prosthetic Peg Leg – The Box Leg
***Scientific attempts to understand early prosthesis manufacturing techniques are rare. The academic research of artificial limbs has been limited to the historical analysis of documentary sources. This area still remains a fairly under-researched topic even under the more recent developments of disability studies (Childress, 1985)...
Some Uses of Experiment for Understanding Early Knitting and Erasmus' Bonnet
The experimental work directly related to the archaeological evidence turned out to be essential to the investigation, but much of it was too technical for the original publication. Experimental archaeology is its proper context, and I presented the posters this article is based on at the EXARC conference in Leiden in April 2017 (Kruseman, 2017a) and at the KEME symposium in Copenhagen in August 2017 (Kruseman 2017b). Thank you to the organizers and participants!
Experimental Archaeometallurgy of Early-Middle Bronze Age Cyprus: Pilot Experiments of Copper Smelting at Pyrgos-Mavroraki
Experimental Archaeometallurgy and Pilot Experiments
Experimental archaeology applied to archaeo-metallurgical studies (experimental archaeometallurgy) has revealed itself as an essential tool to verify scholars’ hypotheses on the technological processes involved in ancient metallurgy. Experimental archaeometallurgy is a specialist field within experimental archaeology.
Understanding the Archaeological Record: Reconstructing a Warp-Weighted Loom
***The paper deals with a reconstruction of a warp-weighted loom based on a rare find of 36 in situ loom weights in an object interpreted as a weaving hut at an archaeological site Virje-Sušine in Northern Croatia dated in late Iron Age (La Tène C period, 2/2 3rd – 2/2 2nd century BC)...
Learning to Recreate, Recreating to Learn. Experimental Archaeology
***This paper aims to present and discuss ongoing activities that combine Experimental Archaeology and Ethnoarchaeology developed in the scope of a master's degree, a post-doctoral and other research projects at the University of Vigo (Galicia, Spain), in collaboration with regional open-air museums and educational centres...
Experimental Approaches to Student Success
***An undergraduate student who hopes to secure meaningful work or pursue graduate studies needs to have excellent grades. This is true for all disciplines, but especially for niche fields like archaeology. Grades alone, however, are rarely enough. Employers and graduate schools seek candidates that are not only ‘book smart’ but who have...
An Experimental Diachronic Exploration of Patination Methodology of Dark Patinated (Arsenical) Copper Alloys on Case Studies from the Eastern Mediterranean Bronze Age and Early Iron Age
Artificially dark patinated copper alloys appear in various times and regions and are commonly applied in prestigious polychrome metallic objects. Currently, the earliest finds known are from ca. 2000 BC in Egypt (See Fig. 1) and Palestine (See Fig. 2), followed by ca. 1500 BC in Greece and Cyprus (See Fig. 3 and 4) and again during the Roman period from ca. the late 4th century BC (See Fig. 5 and 6).
The Experimental Building of a Wooden Watchtower in the Carolingian Southern Frontier
***During fifteen days of June 2015, the team of l’Esquerda worked in a research project to build a Carolingian wooden watchtower on the River Ter, in Roda de Ter, Catalonia, Spain. The idea was to test our hypotheses experimentally, (a) if the wooden watchtower could...
‘Re-rolling’ a Mummy: an Experimental Spectacle at Manchester Museum
Introduction
The unwrapping and dissection of mummified bodies was a common practice in 19th century Europe. These autopsies were conducted as part of scientific endeavours and social spectacles, motivated by a desire to advance the fields of science, medicine and archaeology, coupled with a sense of macabre fascination (Moshenska, 2014). The scientific capability required to study mummified remains non-invasively had yet to be developed, leading to the destruction of many hundreds of specimens.
Animal Teeth in a Late Mesolithic Woman’s Grave, Reconstructed as a Rattling Ornament on a Baby Pouch
***In one of the Late Mesolithic graves at Skateholm, Sweden, dating from 5500–4800 BC, was buried a woman together with a newborn baby. Altogether 32 perforated wild boar (Sus scrofa) teeth, along with traces of red ochre pigment, were found in this grave. We interpreted these artefacts as a rattling ornament decorating a baby pouch...
The Forgotten Movement – A (Re)construction of Prehistoric Dances
However, after studying archaeological artistic depictions, historical descriptions and contemporary ethnographic examples as the main research sources for the history of dance and dance movement and its development in the context of early human history, we created a conceptual reconstruction of prehistoric dances. It was presented in the form of an educational dance performance with the goal of presenting the archaeological heritage through a possible vision of dances and dance movements from a number of selected prehistoric periods: Neolithic, Chalcolithic, and Bronze Age.
Adze-plane, Skeparnon, Multipurpose Adze or Two-handled Adze? Practical Work with an Alleged Predecessor of the Woodworking Plane
***This article presents a practical approach to a Graeco-Roman woodworking tool called “ascia-Hobel” in the archaeological literature, respectively “adze-plane” as the corresponding English term. The tool in question consists of an often semi-circular adze-blade attached to a two-handled shaft and seems to be suited both for chopping and...
Kicking Ash, Viking Glass Bead Making
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.
Experimental Archaeology as Participant Observation: A Perspective from Medieval Food
***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...