Experimental Archaeology

The Gislinge Boat Open Source Project: An Old Boat and a New Idea

T. Sørensen,
M. Rodevad Dael,
S. Tavs Ravn,
M. Broen and
M. Krogh Nielsen (DK)
In 1993, the remains of a wooden boat were uncovered during drainage works north of the village of Gislinge, on the island of Sjælland in Denmark (Gøthche 1995). Now reclaimed agricultural land, the area had once been part of the shallow Lammefjord, itself connected to the Isefjord and the open sea...

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

Claudia Speciale and
Kati Caruso (IT)

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.

An Energy Saving House from 3400 Years Ago

Irene Staeves (DE)
The fact that people of the Bronze Age built houses with very good insulation was already presented by Staeves (2010) based on the results of an archaeological excavation in 2003 where an archaeological team of the Main-Kinzig district examined remnants of a Middle Bronze Age settlement. Prior to this, it was assumed that...

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

E. Giovanna Fregni (UK)
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...

Problems and Suggested Solutions in the Replication and Operation of a Glass Furnace based on Roman Remains: an Experiment in Glass Production

E. Lauermann,
G. Putzgruber and
D. Götzinger (AT)

Part of the reorganisation of the archaeological open-air area at Asparn are plans for a remaking of the Iron Age workshop area. The construction of an Iron Age smithy and a glass production furnace are also being planned. As is widely known ‘glass can be made out of quartz sand, potash and lime’. But is it as easy as that? It is therefore legitimate to discuss here the experimental efforts involved in its production.

Experiencing Visible and Invisible Metal Casting Techniques in Bronze Age Italy

M. Barbieri,
C. Cavazzuti,
L. Pellegrini and
F. Scacchetti (IT)
OpenArch Dialogue with Skills Issue
***What we know about Bronze Age metalworking in Italy basically relies on finished artefacts and on stone, clay or bronze implements involved in the process of manufacturing (tuyères, crucibles, moulds, hammers, chisels, et cetera; Bianchi, 2010; Bianchi, in press).

A Gaulish Throwing Stick Discovery in Normandy: Study and Throwing Experimentations

L. Bordes,
A. Lefort and
F. Blondel (FR)
In 2010 archaeological excavations on the pre-Roman site of Urville Nacqueville, Normandy (France) discovered a shaped unknown wooden implement. This boomerang shaped wooden artefact, dated from 120 to 80 BC, has been found in an enclosure trench of a Gaulish village close to a ritual deposit of whalebones...

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

J. Morer De Llorens,
R. Cardona Colell (ES) et al.
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...