EXARC Journal - Latest Articles

Strategy of Presenting Prehistoric Sites Like an Open-air Stand. Why and How and from a Sustainable Development Perspective

Author(s)
Mona Abo Azan 1
Publication Date

Introduction

One of the heritage resources of prehistoric sites, where prehistory is a diverse and wide-ranging field of study, appears as the triple determination between geography and climate, humans and their type of social organisation. Prehistory has bequeathed us evocative monuments and landscapes from the earliest human occupation, spanning enormous environmental and technological changes, and including several human species. Thus, prehistoric sites have great meaning in both natural and cultural history.

“I’m really sorry my wife is not here today. She thinks I’m off my head.” How Open-air Museums can Create Programmes for People Affected by Dementia - Examples from Den Gamle By (DK)

Author(s)
Martin Brandt Djupdræt 1 ✉,
Henning Lindberg 1,
Anne Marie Rechendorf 1
Publication Date

Introduction

In 2012, Den Gamle By opened the ‘House of Memory’, accomodation specially furnished for sessions with people affected by dementia. It is a three-room apartment with accessibility for wheelchair users, a functional toilet and kitchen, two living rooms, a hallway and a bedroom. As collaborating partners, memory researchers from Aarhus University and the Department of Health and Care at Aarhus Municipality assisted with their knowledge.

Experimental Archaeology and the Sustainability of Dental Calculus Research: The Case of Chocolate and the Nuns Of S. Maria Della Stella’s Church, Saluzzo, Italy

Author(s)
Sarah Sandron 1 ✉,
Anita Radini 2,
Dominique Scalarone 3,
Beatrice Demarchi 1,
Rosa Boano 1,
Alison Beach 4,
Cynthianne Spiteri 1
Publication Date
In Italy, chocolate (Theobroma cacao L.) was introduced during the Columbian exchange, and it quickly became both an important and accessible part of the Italian culinary tradition. Today, Italy is Europe’s second-largest chocolate producer...

Can Experimental Archaeology Confirm Ethnographic Evidence? The Case of Aboriginal Boomerangs Used as Retouchers

Author(s)
Eva Francesca Martellotta 1, 2
Publication Date
In this article, an experimental programme is used to examine how boomerangs may be used to retouch stone tools. The programme's findings confirm ethnographic data pertaining to the employment of hardwood boomerangs in retouching activities and investigate their technological similarities to Palaeolithic bone retouchers...

How were Half-Moons on Shells Made in the Upper Palaeolithic? An Experimental Approach

Author(s)
Annamaria Daniele 1
Publication Date
In the Upper Palaeolithic levels of the site of Grotta Continenza (Abruzzo, Italy), numerous shells shaped as half-moons have been found. These artifacts, being important examples of ancient ornaments, have been regularly subjects of study, but the production process has only been hypothesised...

“Look at the Bones!” - Adding Bone in a Bloomery Iron Smelt

Author(s)
Darrell Markewitz 1
Publication Date

Introduction

Vikings unwittingly made their swords stronger by trying to imbue them with spirits.
Iron Age Scandinavians only had access to poor quality iron, which put them at a tactical disadvantage against their neighbors.
To strengthen their swords, smiths used the bones of their dead ancestors and animals, hoping to transfer the spirit into their blades.
They couldn't have known that in so doing, they were forging a rudimentary form of steel.

Matt Davis (2019)