EXARC Journal Issue 2019/4

Reviewed Articles

Working with Artisans; The ‘It Depends’ Dilemma

Author(s)
Christina Petty 1
Publication Date
We live in a world where scientific method is both the expected and accepted path to knowledge. With any scientific method, experiments based on detailed, well-documented, well-considered theories, and precise set-ups must be replicated exactly by others who come to the same conclusion to consider the information gleaned from them to be valid. This has become the accepted practice for most...

Replication of a Maori Ethnographic Textile Hem Border Pattern

Author(s)
Lisa McKendry 1
Publication Date
11th EAC Trento 2019
***Replication of archaeological and ethnographic Māori textiles, under the direction of customary knowledge and previous practical experience, can provide a more nuanced understanding of the manufacture of taonga (treasures) made from fibre materials. A case study is presented here from the unique perspective of a weaver who...

The Arrowheads of the Squared-Mouthed-Pottery Culture: Reconstruction and Shooting Experiment

Author(s)
Maddalena Sartori 1
Publication Date
11th EAC Trento 2019
***This international experimental project focused on the production of replicas of different models of flat-retouched flint arrowheads (stemmed, with flat base, and ogives -with rounded base-) in use within the Neolithic Squared-Mouthed-Pottery Culture (SMP) of Northern Italy. The aim was to test their efficiency in order to understand if...

Stone & Metal: Experimental reproduction of a stone monument of the Metal Age, Located between Liguria and Tuscany (Italy)

Author(s)
Edoardo Ratti 1
Publication Date
11th EAC Trento 2019
***The Italian region of Lunigiana, is located between Liguria and Tuscany, and is rich in stone statues which were worked from the third millennium B.C. until the beginning of the historical period, around the 6th century B.C. (Anati, 1981). Eighty statues have been collected and show stylized male and female characters...

The Iron Age Shepherd Sling

Author(s)
David Jackson 1
Publication Date
The purpose of this experiment was to examine the shepherd sling to form an understanding as to why it would appear to be the most dominant missile weapon of Iron Age Britain (Harding, 2012, p.194). The experiment consisted of making and using the sling, testing its range and accuracy to reveal its strengths and limitations. This experiment was also intended to introduce a different interpretation...

Basalt Handaxes: Preliminarily Testing the Lithic Translation Strategy Hypothesis and Comparisons with the Fontana Ranuccio Site Bifacial Tools

Author(s)
Giorgio Chelidonio 1
Publication Date
11th EAC Trento 2019
***The oldest bifacial “handaxes” known so far belong to the “Kokiselei 4” site, dated to 1.76 Ma (West Turkana, Kenya; Texier, 2018). They have been manufactured by direct lithic percussion on magmatic effusive stone materials. Considering that the evolution of “fully operational intelligence” (Wynn, 1979) has been associated with the so-called...

Everybody Else is doing It, so Why Can’t We? Low-tech and High-tech Approaches in Archaeological Open-Air Museums

Author(s)
Roeland Paardekooper 1
Publication Date
Some people believe that an open-air museum is a place where you leave your modern technique behind and go ‘low tech’. Other than the museums which act like digital free zones, many others experiment with going digital. Where experience and storytelling have always been the central concepts of archaeological open-air museums, exactly these ideas are behind many digital techniques. We have to...

The Contribution of Experimental Archaeology in Addressing the Analysis of Residues on Spindle-Whorls

Author(s)
Vanessa Forte 1 ✉,
Francesca Coletti 1,
Elena Ciccarelli 2,
Cristina Lemorini 3
Publication Date

Introduction

Spindle-whorls are tools used for transforming the mass of fibres into yarn. These tools can be made of a large variety of materials as ceramic, bone, wood, or glass. They can vary largely in shapes (conical, biconical, lenticular, etc…), size, and weight according to archaeological contexts and chronological period of human history.

Replica of the Knife 2165 found in Flixborough a Late Anglo-Saxon Period Knife with an Inlay of Twisted Bronze and Silver Wires

Author(s)
Mauro Fiorentini 1
Publication Date
This work aims to show the reconstruction of a medieval era knife that was found in Flixborough, Lincolnshire (UK). Flixborough’s Anglo-Saxon cemetery has returned a total of 11 knives that can be dated between the 8th and the 10th century AD. The specimen discussed here is known as Knife 2165 and was found in context 3417 of the site. This knife is the smallest of the inlaid knives found in Flixborough...

Indian Students’ and Teachers’ Perceptions and Attitudes to Archaeological Content in History Textbooks

Author(s)
Seema Shukla Ojha 1,2
Publication Date

Introduction

It is well accepted that using real evidence/primary sources is an important criterion in the teaching and learning of history. The focus in classrooms in many parts of the world has already moved to using both primary and secondary sources instead of solely using school textbooks, which has made the teaching and learning of history much more useful, joyful, and productive. Archaeological remains form one of the most important of primary sources.

Making, Multi-Vocality and Experimental Archaeology: The Pallasboy Project

Author(s)
Benjamin Gearey 1 ✉,
Mark Griffiths 2,3,
Brian Mac Domhnaill 4,
Cathy Moore 4,
Orla-Peach Power 5
Publication Date
This paper outlines The Pallasboy Project, which set out to craft a replica of the eponymous Irish Iron Age wooden vessel. We consider the process and progress of the project, as it developed in a number of slightly unusual directions. The paper includes a description of the experimental work, alongside personal reflections and comments by...