Experimental archaeology employs a number of different methods, techniques, analyses, and approaches in order to generate and test hypotheses or an interpretation, based upon archaeological source material, like ancient structures or artifacts.^[1] It should not be confused with primitive technology which is not concerned with any archaeological or historical evidence, living history or historical reenactment, which is generally undertaken as a hobby, for entertainment or to demonstrate a romantic atmosphere of a specific (pre)historic era. Look up Structure in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... In archaeology, an artifact or artefact is any object made or modified by a human culture, and often one later recovered by some archaeological endeavor. ... This article is about the term as used among historical reenactors. ... Reenactors of the American Civil War Historical reenactment is an activity in which participants recreate some aspects of a historical event or period. ...

One of the main forms of experimental archaeology is the creation of copies of historical structures using only historically accurate technologies. This is sometimes known as reconstruction archaeology. However, the product of experimental archaeology is data, not the constructed item itself.

In recent years, experimental archeology has been featured in several television productions, such as BBC's "Building the Impossible" and the Discovery Channel's "Secrets of Lost Empires". On television shows, the serious scientific benefits of the techniques are somewhat lessened by imposing strict deadlines on the team.

Examples

A good example is Butser Ancient Farm in the English county of Hampshire which is a working replica of an Iron Age farmstead where long-term experiments in prehistoric agriculture, animal husbandry and manufacturing are held to test ideas posited by archaeologists. In Denmark, the Lejre Experimental Centre carries out even more ambitious work on such diverse topics as artificial Bronze Age and Iron Age burials, prehistoric science and stone tool manufacture in the absence of flint. Butser Ancient Farm, near Petersfield in Hampshire, England, is a working replica of an Iron Age farmstead where long-term experiments in prehistoric and Roman agriculture, animal husbandry and manufacturing are held to test ideas posited by archaeologists. ... For other uses, see England (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Hampshire (disambiguation). ... Iron Age Axe found on Gotland This article is about the archaeological period known as the Iron Age, for the mythological Iron Age see Iron Age (mythology). ... Lejre Experimental Centre The Lejre Experimental Centre is a 50 acre (20 hectare) scientific laboratory just outside of Roskilde, Denmark that was founded in 1964 by Hans-Ole Hansen. ... The Bronze Age is a period in a civilizations development when the most advanced metalworking has developed the techniques of smelting copper from natural outcroppings and alloys it to cast bronze. ... Iron Age Axe found on Gotland This article is about the archaeological period known as the Iron Age, for the mythological Iron Age see Iron Age (mythology). ... This article is about the sedimentary rock. ...

Other examples include:

• The Kon-Tiki, a balsa raft built by Thor Heyerdahl and sailed from Peru to Polynesia to demonstrate the possibility of cultural exchange between South America and the Polynesian islands.
• Attempts to transport large stones like those used in Stonehenge over short distances using only technology that would have been available at the time. The original stones were probably moved from Pembrokeshire to the site on Salisbury Plain.
• The reconstruction of part of Hadrian's Wall at Vindolanda, carried out in limited time by local volunteers.
• Greek triremes have been reconstructed by skilled sailors from plans and archaeological remains and have been successfully tried out at sea.
• Attempts to manufacture steel that matches all the characteristics of Damascus steel, whose original manufacturing techniques have been lost for centuries.
• Computational Fluid Dynamics reconstructions by the University of Exeter of the Sri Lanka furnaces at Samanalawewa. These are thought to be the most likely sources for Damascus steel.
• Experiments in Ancient Roman Coin Minting.
• Experiments using reproduction bâtons de commandement as spear throwers.

The Kon-Tiki raft is shown on the cover of the DVD of the documentary. ... Binomial name Ochroma lagopus Sw. ... Thor Heyerdahl Thor Heyerdahl (October 6, 1914, in Larvik, Norway – April 18, 2002, in Colla Micheri, Italy) was a Norwegian ethnographer and adventurer with a scientific background in zoology and geography. ... Carving from the ridgepole of a Māori house, ca 1840 Polynesia (from Greek: πολύς many, νῆσος island) is a large grouping of over 1,000 islands scattered over the central and southern Pacific Ocean. ... South America South America is a continent crossed by the equator, with most of its area in the Southern Hemisphere. ... For other uses, see Stonehenge (disambiguation). ... Pembrokeshire (Welsh: ) is a county in the southwest of Wales in the United Kingdom. ... This article is about the plateau in southern England; Salisbury Plain is also an area on South Georgia Island. ... // Hadrians Wall is a stone and turf fortification built by the Roman Empire across the width of modern-day England. ... Vindolanda was a Roman auxiliary fort located at Chesterholm, just south of Hadrians Wall in northern England, near the border with Scotland, guarding the Roman road from the River Tyne, to the Solway Firth, now known as the Stanegate. ... A Greek trireme. ... Damascus steel is a steel used in Middle Eastern swordmaking from about 1100 to 1700AD. Damascus swords were of legendary sharpness and strength, and were apocryphally claimed to be able to cut through lesser quality European swords and even rock. ... A computer simulation of high velocity air flow around the Space Shuttle during re-entry. ... The University of Exeter (usually abbreviated as Exon. ... Damascus steel is a steel used in Middle Eastern swordmaking from about 1100 to 1700AD. Damascus swords were of legendary sharpness and strength, and were apocryphally claimed to be able to cut through lesser quality European swords and even rock. ... A bâton de commandement or bâton percé is a name given by archaeologists to a particular prehistoric artefact of uncertain function. ... For other uses, see Spear (disambiguation) and Spears (disambiguation). ...

Variations

Other types of experimental archaeology may involve burying modern replica artefacts and ecofacts for varying lengths of time to analyse the post-depositional effects on them. Other archaeologists have built modern earthworks and measured the effects of silting in the ditches and weathering and subsidence on the banks to understand better how ancient monuments would have looked. Experimental archaeology has provided new ideas on what life was once like at West Stow, Suffolk, UK. The early Anglo-Saxon village (c.420-650AD) has been carefully reconstructed where it was excavated. In the Anglo-Saxon Centre, objects from the original village are displayed. [1] In archaeology, an artifact or artefact is any object made or modified by a human culture, and often one later recovered by some archaeological endeavor. ... In archaeology, a biofact or ecofact is an object, found at an archaeological site and carrying archaeological significance, but (unlike an artifact) not altered by human hands. ... In civil engineering, earthworks are engineering works created through the moving of massive quantities of soil or unformed stone. ... West Stow is a small parish in West Suffolk, England. ... Suffolk (pronounced ) is a large historic and modern non-metropolitan county in East Anglia, England. ... For other uses, see Anglo-Saxon. ... Masouleh village, Gilan Province, Iran. ...

The work of flintknappers is also a kind of experimental archaeology as much has been learnt about the many different types of flint tools through the hands-on approach of actually making them. Experimental archaeologists have equipped modern professional butchers, archers and lumberjacks with replica flint tools to judge how effective they would have been for certain tasks. Use wear traces on the modern flint tools are compared to similar traces on archaeological artefacts, making probabillity hypotheses on the possible kind of use feasible. Hand axes have been shown to be particularly effective at cutting animal meat from the bone and jointing it. A flintknapper is an individual who shapes flint or other stone through the process of knapping or lithic reduction no shit sherlock, to manufacture stone tools, strikers for flintlock firearms, or to produce flat-faced stones for building or facing walls. ... A hand axe is a bifacial Paleolithic core tool. ...

Notes

References

External links

• Butser Ancient Farm, Hampshire, UK
• The Lejre Center
• EXARC, the European network of Archaeological Open Air Museums and other facilities involved in experimental archaeology
• EXAR the European Association for the advancement of archaeology by experiment
• The University of Exeter offers Europe's only MA in experimental archaeology
• West Stow Anglo-Saxon Village
• Experimental Archaeology in South-East Europe