EXARC Journal - Latest Articles

Diet of the Poor in Roman Italy: An Exploration of Wild and Cultivated Plants as an Essential Dietary Component

Brittany Bauer (CA)
EXARC Journal Issue 2020/2
Ancient Technology
Most of the population of Roman Italy was poor, whether they were the poor who were constantly in search for food and shelter, or the temporarily poor who were artisans or shopkeepers but could fall into poverty at times. In classical literature, pleasures of the mind were favoured over pleasures of the body. Epictetus wrote that only stupid men spent time dwelling on matters of the body such as eating...

Smelting Conditions and Smelting Products: Experimental Insights into the Development of Iron Bloomery Furnaces

Y. Marks,
N. Groat,
L. O. Lortie,
M. Hughes,
H. F. Thompson,
C. J. Woodland,
T. MS Adams,
T. Thorpe,
B. Tang,
R. Kenyon,
B. Langhorne and
J. Fraser-Darling (UK)
EXARC Journal Issue 2020/2
Experimental Archaeology
The material record for bloomery furnaces in Iron Age and Roman Britain is fragmentary and, because of this paucity of evidence, the reconstruction of the ceramic structures used in iron production is difficult. Experiments have nevertheless been carried out to ...

Throwing Stick to Spear Thrower - Study of Ethnographic Artefacts and Experimentation

Luc Bordes (FR)
EXARC Journal Issue 2020/2
Ancient Technology

An evolution that might have let some traces in the features of some particular Australian Aboriginal wooden implements.

Background

Short review of the antiquity of the three main types of prehistoric projectile weaponry

The bow, an invention reflecting a new hunting environment

Roar Ege: The Lifecycle of a Reconstructed Viking Ship

Tríona Sørensen and
Martin Rodevad Dael (DK)
EXARC Journal Issue 2020/2
Experimental Archaeology

Roar Ege was launched in 1984, and after more than 30 years on the water, has many sea miles under its keel. The years have, however, taken their toll on the ship. Roar Ege has undergone several major phases of repair – most recently in 2014. It was hoped this repair would keep Roar Ege afloat for several more years but by spring 2016, the ship had deteriorated to such an extent that it was clear that Roar Ege’s sailing days were over.

Flax Fibre Extraction Techniques in the Late Middle Ages

Martina König (DE)
EXARC Journal Issue 2020/2
Ancient Technology
On its surface, linen production research is simple as there is a large corpus of books available; however, the majority of these date to the last three centuries. Older texts, while available, tend to concentrate on the textiles themselves and their trade. As a result, I had to collect the information on medieval tools and manufacturing process myself. I have grown and processed flax ...

Trampling Experiments – A Contribution to the Pseudo-Retouch Issue

K. Šprem,
K. Gerometta and
I. Karavanić (HR)
EXARC Journal Issue 2020/2
Experimental Archaeology
11th EAC Trento 2019
***Apart from human-made retouch, stone tools can also exhibit traces of damage caused by several post depositional processes, one of which is trampling. Edge damage provoked by trampling, be it of animal or human origin, is sometimes interpreted as human-made retouch ...