Experimental Archaeology

The Mother of All Bead Furnaces: Testing a Hypothesis about a Natural Draft Bead Furnace

Neil Peterson (CA)
As a part of the ongoing exploration of Viking Era glass bead production, the Dark Ages Re-creation Company (DARC) team perform new pilot experiments on a regular basis. These experiments provide a preliminary understanding of a specific construct or research question, allowing us to judge the validity of further experiments, as well as what equipment or additional questions may be necessary as a part of...

The Society of Experimental Archaeology „Harjis” (PL)

The Society of Experimental Archaeology „Harjis” runs a project that aims to recreate outfit, weaponry and realities of the Przeworsk Culture, that is, people living in the first centuries of our era in the territory of present-day Poland. We began popularisation of historical knowledge about the Barbarian Europe in 2007. In our first active years we focused mainly on popularisation of archaeology. 

For the last three years the primary direction of our activities concentrated on widely understood experimental archaeology. Thanks to this attitude we have gained the official patronage of the Institute of Archaeology of the University of Lodz. In addition to the popularisation, we put special emphasis on scientific activity. We try to publish the results of our experiments regularly in scientific journals. 

The Variation of Elastic Modulus and Changes of Structures and Mineral Phases in Rocks as Parameters for the Identification of Fire-Setting in Ancient Mines

Angela Celauro (IT) and
Alexander Maass (DE)
The article is focused on the creation of a protocol for the analytical characterization of fire-setting in different types of rock. A set of experiments of heating and cooling have been carried out on different kind of rocks under various conditions and durations in order to record changes in the structures and composition of the samples. This study was set to support the solution of issues in the case of...

CRAFTER: Potting Techniques of the Bronze Age

Caroline Jeffra (NL)
Throughout its history, experimental archaeology has fulfilled a valuable role in archaeological research, allowing craftspeople and scholars alike to deepen an understanding of people and their societies in the past. EXARC’s recent involvement in the CRAFTER project, and the author’s participation in its International Meeting in Mula (Spain), has demonstrated that significant knowledge gaps remain in...

Experimental Archaeology: Who Does It, What Is the Use?

Roeland Paardekooper (NL)
In two surveys, several people working with experimental archaeology explained what they believe is experimental archaeology. They also described their activities. We asked universities, societies, freelancers and museums. Several adjacent activities are discussed, like archaeotechnique, making reconstructions and life experiments. After some confusing and clarifying examples, the future of ...

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

Maria Virginia Montorfani (IT)
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...

The Question of Fuel for Cooking in Ancient Egypt and Sudan

J. Budka,
C. Geiger,
P. Heindl,
V. Hinterhuber (DE) and
H. Reschreiter (AT)
Little is known about the actual cooking processes and in particular fuel-related activities in Egypt and Northern Sudan (Nubia) in antiquity, especially during the Bronze Age. Considering that wood was, in general, rare along the Nile valley and therefore an expensive raw material, animal dung was tested in 2018 by means of...

Early Efforts in Experimental Archaeology: Examples from Evans, Pitt-Rivers, and Abbott

Carolyn Dillian (US)
Experimental archaeology formally began more than 150 years ago with attempts in replicative flint knapping by well-known archaeologists such as Sir John Evans, Augustus (Lane Fox) Pitt-Rivers, John Lubbock, and Sven Nilsson (Coles, 1973). These individuals sought to discover how stone tools were made in order to better identify archaeological artifacts as the products of human manufacture and to understand...

Universitat Autónoma de Barcelona (ES)

Member of EXARC
Yes

Though only  less more  than 50 years old, the Universitat Autónoma de Barcelona (UAB) has already consolidated itself amongst the 200 best universities in the world within the main university rankings and is located within the top 10 new universities with greatest international projection and prestige.

Though only  less more  than 50 years old, the Universitat Autónoma de Barcelona (UAB) has already consolidated itself amongst the 200 best universities in the world within the main university rankings and is located within the top 10 new universities with greatest international projection and prestige...

Moravian College (US)

Member of EXARC
No

We were founded on a revolutionary idea - that learning should be eye opening, heart racing, game changing and--most important--fun. When John Amos Comenius, a Moravian bishop, came up with that little theory all the way back in the 1600s, he probably didn't expect to have such a big impact. Turns out, we still agree with his philosophy. And we believe our students, like Comenius, can be a little revolutionary. They, too, can turn something seemingly small into something amazing, unimaginable, and bigger than themselves.
 

Moravian traces its origin to a girls' school founded in May 1742 by sixteen-year-old Countess Benigna von Zinzendorf. Benigna von Zinzendorf's school was the first girls' boarding school in America. It gained such a distinguished reputation that George Washington, during his second term as president of the United States, personally petitioned the headmaster for the admission of two of his great-nieces. The Bethlehem Female Seminary, as the school became known, was chartered to grant baccalaureate degrees in 1863, and in 1913 became Moravian Seminary and College for Women.