Experimental Archaeology

Metal Screw Threads In Antiquity

During the Roman period, small metal screw threads were used both as fastenings and to impart motion (Burstall, 1970, p.77; Singer, et al., 1972, pp.631–632). Screw threads as fastenings can be seen in some jewellery and screw threads to impart motion can be seen in olive presses. These screw threads could have either a square or V-shaped profile.

The Northern Isles of Scotland offer a fascinating case study for understanding past economies and resource management due to the comparative lack of trees found elsewhere in the British Isles. Archaeological evidence proves that this environment did not prevent the development of industrial pursuits in this region during the Iron Age and local accounts dating to ...

This experiment, undertaken over a 12-month period in 2015 at Norton Priory Museum in Cheshire, formed part of a pedagogic case study and an experimental archaeology project. Here eight Archaeology and 12 Ceramics students from the University of Central Lancashire (UCLAN) researched, built, and fired a tile kiln using evidence from previous experimental archaeology projects on the site and other firing projects...

Introduction

Scarabs were the most common type of seal-amulet in Egypt and the southern Levant during the second millennium BC, spanning the Levantine Middle and Late Bronze Ages (Keel, 2004, pp.73–101; Ben-Tor, 2007, p.119).

Introduction

In our research, we investigated the metallic properties ancient Egyptian copper-alloy loop sistra that first appear during that first half of the 12th Dynasty (ca.

Review of the Research

Scholarship of the past century has demonstrated that textiles have long played an important role in Mesoamerica, from the Classic period (AD 250-900) through contemporary cultures.

This paper presents the first experimental archaeological study to formally compare the physical characteristics of tattoos made on human skin using multiple pre-modern tools and tattooing techniques. Our project used eight tools fashioned from animal bone, obsidian, copper, and boar tusk, along with a modern steel needle, to create tattoos on the leg of co-author Danny Riday...

Introduction

A wild seed propagator and gardener (such as myself) relies on years of close human-plant interaction. The adaptability of domesticated and many wild plants to human economy and behaviour has always thrilled me. When I first read archaeological reports of frequent and large amounts of prehistoric charred seeds that were dumped in the ground I was bemused. It contrasted starkly with the care and sensitivity I use in the processes of seed harvest, drying and selection. So I started reading more and also charring seeds myself.

In 1991, the sensational discovery of a male mummy, thawing from the ice, was made on the Tisenjoch in the Ötztal Alps, near the Austrian-Italian border. The deceased man lived about 5300 years ago at the end of the Neolithic Age and is commonly known as Ötzi in German-speaking countries. The site also contained many well-preserved accompanying items and equipment...

During the Bronze Age in Crete, agriculture, pottery production, metallurgy, textiles, architectural feats, trade, and other specializations flourished. Throughout habitation on Crete, pottery production was an area of craftsmanship and practicality from the end of the Neolithic to Mycenean and Iron Age. This experiment, however, relates to the Late Minoan I period in the geographical region of Mochlos...