ethnoarchaeology

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...

Experimenting with the Ancient Greek Pottery Production Process from Clay Selection to Firing in a (Re)constructed Updraft Kiln

Author(s)
Francesca Tomei 1 ✉,
Juan Ignacio Jimenez Rivero 2
Publication Date

Introduction

This experimental project aimed to reproduce the Hellenistic (fourth-third century BC) Greek pottery production process. The project was conducted by the authors, Francesca Tomei, PhD graduate in Archaeology at the University of Liverpool, and Juan Ignacio Jimenez Rivero, a ceramist specializing in replicating ancient pottery technology, who frequently collaborates with the Department of Classics, Ancient History, Archaeology and Egyptology, University of Manchester, on ceramic experimental archaeology projects and activities.

An Experimental Approach to Assessing the Tempering and Firing of Local Pottery Production in Nubia during the New Kingdom Period

Author(s)
Julia Budka 1 ✉,
Giulia D’Ercole 1
Publication Date

Introduction

Ceramologists usually apply the term style to describe the set of visual (i.e., decorative and morphometric) attributes of a ceramic object (see, e.g., Rice, 2015, pp. 388-410). The term fabric is mainly employed in petrographic and technological studies to indicate the physical characteristics of the material (i.e., clay paste composition) a pot is made from ( Nordström and Bourriau, 1993, p. 162).

Review: Journal of Ethnoarchaeology

Author(s)
E. Giovanna Fregni 1
Publication Date
Experimental archaeologists often seek similar ethnographic studies when designing and preparing experiments. Observing how contemporary traditional artisans work, along with the materials and tools they use, provides invaluable insights to those who want to understand crafts and tools used in the ancient past. While contemporary artisans’ tools may have been modernised...

Experimental Bonfirings of Pottery with Camel Dung Fuel, Jordan, July 2018

Author(s)
Maria-Louise Sidoroff 1
Publication Date
The objective of this series of experimental pottery firings with camel dung fuel was to isolate the function of this fuel type within the context of a simple mode of pottery firing for data applicable to studies of ancient pottery manufacture...

Vegetable Plaiting Materials from the Site of Abu Tbeirah (Southern Iraq, Third Millennium BC): Experimental Approach

Author(s)
Maria Virginia Montorfani 1
Publication Date
This study is based on plaiting materials from Abu Tbeirah, Iraq, with a particular attention to baskets and reed mats. The study focuses on the various raw materials used, on diverse plating techniques and tries to understand possible uses of these artefacts in their context. The research has been developed with an experimental approach, based on archaeological and ethnographic sources...

Re-Creating an Aboriginal Earth Oven with Clayey Heating Elements: Experimental Archaeology and Paleodietary Implications

Author(s)
Maurizio Campanelli 1,
Jane Muir 2,
Alice Mora 3 ✉,
Daniel Ross Clarke 1,4,
Darren Griffin 4
Publication Date
Earth ovens may relate to different ancestral cooking techniques, serving specific needs and functions. In eastern and south-eastern Australia, they were a significant element of a thriving pre-colonial Aboriginal culture. However, today it is extremely rare to find such structures well preserved. Based on archaeological and historical records...

Hut 1 of Tornambé, Pietraperzia: an Experimental Project for Prehistoric Sicily Studies

Author(s)
Claudia Speciale 1 ✉,
Kati Caruso 2
Publication Date

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.

Ethnoarchaeology

The study of a people or society in order to understand behavioural relationships.