Experimental Archaeology

An Experimental Approach to Studying the Technology of Pottery Decoration

Golnaz Hossein Mardi (CA)
8th UK EA Conference Oxford 2014
***The early Middle Chalcolithic pottery tradition of Seh Gabi Tepe in Iran is called Dalma tradition. Among the different types of Dalma pottery, I have focused on monochrome painted ceramics, to investigate, by means of experimental analysis, how their decoration technology was undertaken...

Stone Tools of Shetland: Experimental Felsite Project

B. O’Neill,
B. Gilhooly and
G. Cooney (IE)
8th UK EA Conference Oxford 2014
***The Shetland Islands are the northernmost part of Britain, located northeast of the Orkney Islands and Scottish mainland. Similar to other locations in northwest Europe, during the Neolithic Period (4000-2500 cal BC) suitable lithic sources were exploited for use in the production of stone axes and other artefacts...

Experimental Archaeology Research Cluster!

Early May, representatives of almost a dozen universities practicing experimental archaeology met for a roundtable meeting in Madrid. They decided to form a Research Cluster on Experimental Archaeology under the EXARC umbrella. The Cluster includes among others Washington College (US), Università di Siena (IT), Università del Salento (IT), University of Exeter (UK), University College Dublin (IE) and Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (ES).

To Use or Not to Use a Minoan Chisel? Ancient Technology in a New Light

Maria Lowe Fri (SE)
7th UK EA Conference Cardiff 2013
***The Minoan chisel is thought to have been used by the metal worker, the stone mason, the sculptor, the carpenter, and the ivory and bone worker. However, barely any work has been conducted to substantiate the different workers and their chisels...

Reproducing the Wall Painting of the Abduction of Persephone (Vergina-Macedonia): Conditions and Restrictions for a Successful Archaeological Experiment

Μ.Ι. Stefanakis and
Α. Vlavogilakis (GR)
Research on the technique of fresco painting in Macedonian tombs of the late classical period, is currently in progress through the experimental reproduction of the mural the Tomb of Persephone in the Grand Tumulus of Vergina. The purpose of the research is to identify the techniques used by ancient craftspeople, their tools, materials and ...

Variables and Assumptions in Modern Interpretation of Ancient Spinning Technique and Technology Through Archaeological Experimentation

Tracy P. Hudson (QA)
This paper takes the form of a critical analysis of archaeological experiments using spinning tools. The archaeological experiments regarding whorl weight and wool spinning of the Tools and Textiles – Texts and Contexts project, through the Danish National Research Foundation’s Centre for Textile Research, are examined with respect to a number of variables...

The Registry of Memory Process Applied to Experimental Archaeology in a Castromao “Oven”

Andrés Teira-Brión (ES),
Josefa Rey-Castiñeira (ES) and
Clíodhna Ní Líonain (IE)
7th UK EA Conference Cardiff 2013
***Memory is the cognitive process that codifies, stores and retrieves past actions that are perceived in the present, generating our remembrances and perceptions of the past and informing our knowledge of the world around us (...) Applied to archaeology, memory can be understood as the marks or...

Observations on Italian Bronze Age Sword Production: The Archaeological Record and Experimental Archaeology

Luca Pellegrini and
Federico Scacchetti (IT)
7th UK EA Conference Cardiff 2013
***In spite of the very large quantity of Bronze Age swords in Northern Italy, only a few stone moulds have been found. Tests have shown that carving such big stone moulds (more than 60 cm long) requires a large amount of raw material, deep knowledge and skill, rather than a wide set of implements...

The Mummification of Votive Birds: Past and Present

S. D. Atherton and
L. M. McKnight (UK)

Introduction

Animal mummies can be divided into four types: pets, mummified to accompany their owners into the Afterlife; victual, prepared and mummified food offerings for consumption in the Afterlife; cult, an individual selected based upon specific characteristics and markings to be an avatar for their prospective deity; and votive, where the whole population of certain species associated with a particular deity were classed as sacred and therefore worthy of mummification (Ikram and Iskander 2002; Ikram 2005; McKnight 2010).