experimental archaeology

Interview: “I have never Done an Experiment in my Whole Life!” with Mamoun Fansa

Author(s)
Katrin Pres 1
Publication Date
For almost 25 years, Mamoun Fansa has been one of the defining personalities within the discipline of experimental archaeology. In 1990, he introduced his exhibition `Experimental Archaeology in Germany’. The exposition continued to circulate all over Germany and Europe for the next 14 years...

Conference Review: The Metalworker and his Tools: QUB Belfast Conference

Author(s)
E. Giovanna Fregni 1
Publication Date
A recent conference, funded partially by UISPP, was held in Queens University Belfast. While its main focus was on Bronze Age metalsmithing tools and assemblages, the MeTools conference (23-25 June at Queen’s University, Belfast) had several presentations that focussed on experimental archaeology as a means of exploring metalworking craft...

Getting Hammered: The Use of Experimental Archaeology to Interpret Wear on Late Bronze Age Hammers and Modern replicas

Author(s)
E. Giovanna Fregni 1
Publication Date
Metalsmithing tools such as hammers are rarely recognised for their significance in understanding prehistoric metalworking technology. Their development and specialisation signal new metalworking techniques and a wider array of the types of metal objects being made. Our knowledge of ancient metalworking is...

Book Review: Egyptology in the Present: Experiential and Experimental Methods in Archaeology by C. Graves-Brown (Ed)

Author(s)
Stephanie J. Harris 1
Publication Date
The eye-catching and colourful cover illustration of the Egyptian creator-God Ptah, fully-equipped with modern toolkit, promises an informative journey into experiential and experimental archaeology in Egyptology...

Book Review: Recent Publications: Experimental Archaeology in the November 2015 Issue of the Cambridge Archaeological Journal (Volume 25, Issue 4)

Author(s)
E. Giovanna Fregni 1
Publication Date
In the last quarter of the 1900s, John Coles (1979) and Peter Reynolds (1999) introduced the subject of experimental archaeology, which has gained significant momentumin the past few years. The discipline has become essential for reconstructing past technologies, in addition to supporting archaeological theory.

Interview: "The Small Things Paint the Big Picture" with Harm Paulsen

Author(s)
Wulf Hein 1
Publication Date
I meet Harm Paulsen (70), the best known and longest working experimental archaeologist in Germany, in his apartment in Schleswig. Although the rooms aren't small, it is only possible to move around by holding in your belly and not breathing, as everywhere, standing, hanging or lying around, is evidence of Harm's professional and private life – a clear line between the two is not visible...

Experimental Archaeology

A scientific approach to testing theories based on archeological evidence such as artifacts and structures.

Book Review: Experimentelle Archäologie in Europa, Bilanz 2014

Author(s)
Christian Horn 1
Publication Date
Annual Proceedings of the EXAR Tagung
***Volume number 13 of the periodical Experimentelle Archäologie in Europa. Bilanz contains 215 pages with 18 different articles on a wide variety of subjects. The contributions are presented in four sections: Experiment and Test, Reconstruction Archaeology, Theory and Emanation’, and Short reports...

The Creation of an Experimental Camp of Protohistory at the Iberian Settlement of Estinclells (Verdú, Urgell, Catalonia)

Author(s)
Jordi Morer De Llorens 1,
Ramon Cardona Colell 2 ✉,
Conxita Ferrer Alvarez 2,
Cristina Garcia Dalmau 2,
Josep Pou Vallès 3,
David Asensio I Vilaró 1,
Oriol Saula I Briansó 4,
Natàlia Alonso Martínez 3
Publication Date
The idea to create the Experimental Camp of Protohistory (CEP) emerged in late 2009. It was set up in a field adjacent to the Iberian Culture settlement of Estinclells (Verdú, Urgell), an archaeological site with only one phase of occupation that offers an exceptional portrait of life in the third century BC...

Field Trials in Neolithic Woodworking – (Re)Learning to Use Early Neolithic Stone Adzes

Author(s)
Renger Elburg 1 ✉,
Wulf Hein 2,
Anja Probst-Böhm 3,
Peter Walter 4
Publication Date
OpenArch Dialogue with Skills Issue
***Excavations of several Early Neolithic wells with excellent preservation of the wooden lining in the past years have made clear that Stone Age woodworking already attained a very high level of perfection. This poses the question how it was possible to execute this type of work with the means available at that time...