EXARC Journal Issue 2019/3

Introduction

Despite experimental archaeological approaches being well known in Brazilian archaeology since the 1970’s, it has rarely produced studies until the beginning of the 21th century. The first deep debate on the subject of experimental archaeology was provided by Miller Jr. (1975), specifically on the application of the approach to lithic technology using Corumbataí flint - typical raw material from the Rioclarense industry. In that occasion, Miller Jr.

Under Starters Orders: An introduction to the experiment

Horses and equitation are often associated with Ireland; coins of the pre-Euro modern period displayed Irish hunters, and florid Victorian art imagined the heroes of the Táin (the early medieval Irish saga of gods, bulls and heroes) in chariots drawn by fiery steeds. That image has persisted despite archaeological evidence, or lack thereof. There is a considerable lack of understanding of the prehistoric use of the horse, and even the types of animals present.

In 2009, confronted to the study of throwing sticks collections from several museums and private collections (including more than three hundreds artefacts) and the need to evaluate their aerodynamic and functions, I developed a throwing stick classification and a methodology to measure their characteristics (Bordes, 2014). This approach is complementary to the gathering of ethnographic or archaeological contextual data to confirm or invalidate hypotheses about theirs functions.