EXARC Extracts 2023/4

The 2023/4 EXARC Journal presents seven reviewed and eleven mixed matters articles. All the articles are open access to allow for free exchange of information and further development of our knowledge of the past.

The reviewed articles come from Europe, Canada, Australia and Syria. As usual they cover wide variety of topics. Can Experimental Archaeology Confirm Ethnographic Evidence? Presents an experimental programme used to examine how boomerangs may be used to retouch stone tools. Testing Roman Glass in the Flame explains the importance of glass properties such as viscosity, temperature working range and softening point when studying ancient techniques of glass working. How Open-air Museums Can Create Programmes for People Affected by Dementia presents special programmes for elderly people with dementia, run by the open-air museum Den Gamble By, in Denmark. “Look at The Bones!” describes an experiment testing the idea presented in the popular press that “Vikings unwittingly made their swords stronger” by using bones in the chain of production from iron ore through to finished swords. Strategy of Presenting Prehistoric Sites Like an Open-air Stand analyses the problems and challenges of preserving and at the same time attracting visitors to prehistoric sites, while engaging local communities in Syria. In Italy, in the middle of the Baroque age, the fashion for drinking chocolate rapidly spread through the courts, nobles, clergy and convents. Experimental Archaeology and the Sustainability of Dental Calculus Research introduces a project that explored the potential of a new methodological approach to investigate the history of chocolate. by combining experimental archaeology with micromorphological and chemical analysis of dental calculus. How were Half-Moons on Shells Made in the Upper Palaeolithic? Presents a study, the aim of which was to reconstruct the chaîne opératoire required to create half-moon-shaped objects from mollusc shell valva, common objects in Italian burials from the Upper Paleolithic onward.

The mixed matters section contains 11 articles, including an article on utilising experimental archaeological elements within primary education in China., six book reviews and four conference and event reports.

Transcript

Welcome to EXARC Extracts with me, Matilda Siebrecht, as we summarise the latest reviewed articles from the most recent issue of the EXARC Journal. 

Hello and welcome to the winter 2023 edition of EXARC Extracts. The first reviewed article is entitled Strategy of Presenting Prehistoric Sites Like an Open-air Stand. Why and How and from a Sustainable Development Perspective, written by Abo Azan. This article discusses the issues surrounding how we preserve and present prehistoric cultural sites, and especially how we can diversify cultural activities through engaging local communities in their cultural heritage. To do this, the author suggests the use of physical outreach centres at prehistoric sites, for example in the form of a kind of “Open-air Stand”, making sure to incorporate the Sustainable Development Goals when managing, conserving, and marketing the sites. 

The next article is titled: “I’m really sorry my wife is not here today. She thinks I’m off my head.” How Open-air Museums can Create Programmes for People Affected by Dementia – Examples from Den Gamle By (DK), by Martin Brandt Djupdræt, Henning Lindberg, and Anne Marie Rechendorf. [As always, I apologise severely for any mispronunciations of Museum names, author names, etcetera throughout this episode]. Since 2004, the Open Air Museum ‘Den Gamle By’ in Denmark has been running special programmes for those suffering from dementia. The results of these programmes were so successful that the museum opened a special “House of Memory” building in 2012, which has then further inspired similar plans in other international open-air museums. In this article, the authors share the results of the museum’s collaboration in projects such as CON AMORE, Centre for Autobiographical Memory Research by Aarhus University, and the Erasmus+ Active Ageing and Heritage in Adult Learning. A really, really interesting and relevant topic! So definitely give that one a read!

The third reviewed article looks at Experimental Archaeology and the Sustainability of Dental Calculus Research: The Case of Chocolate and the Nuns of S. Maria Della Stella’s Church, Saluzzo, Italy written by Sarah Sandron, Anita Radini, Dominique Scalarone, Beatrice Demarchi, Rosa Boano Alison Beach, and Cynthianne Spiteri. Although the title might suggest some kind of cosy murder mystery, the only detective work going on in this article is to try and discover whether it is possible to find archaeological traces of the consumption of chocolate through the analysis of dental calculus. Since its introduction during the Columbian exchange, chocolate has grown to become a huge part of Italian culture, and today Italy is Europe’s second-largest chocolate producer. Research such as that conducted in this experimental study can therefore provide fascinating insights into the more hidden history of this delicious item! A really interesting study, so if you’re interested in learning more about the approaches used, definitely give it a read. 

Next up we have Can Experimental Archaeology Confirm Ethnographic Evidence? The Case of Aboriginal Boomerangs Used as Retouchers, written by Eva Francesca Martellotta. You might look at a boomerang and think that you know what it was used for, but according to this experimental study, you might be wrong! Aside from their better-known use as a hunting tool, boomerangs are also seen by Aboriginal cultures as extremely adaptable tools that can be used by tasks such as chopping, digging, making fire, playing music, and – as the title of this article suggests – in retouching stone tools. The study combines experimental archaeology and usewear analysis, and provides some really interesting results on the different possibilities related to boomerang use in the past.

The fifth case study asks How were Half-Moons on Shells Made in the Upper Palaeolithic? An Experimental Approach, by Annamaria Daniele. As with so many objects from the past, the shell ornaments shaped like half-moons discovered in the Upper Palaeolithic levels of the site of Grotta Continenza have been studied many times, but nobody has actually tried to make one. Until now, that is! In this article, the author replicates the creation of these objects and provides full details of the methods used, and also the results, which lead to some surprising conclusion, especially on the ease of the activity…

The next article tells us to “Look at the Bones!” – Adding Bone in a Bloomery Iron Smelt by Darrell Markewitz. Following the publication in 2019 of claims that human and animal bones were added to the process during the creation of Viking Age swords, the author here conducted experiments to see whether, indeed, the addition of bones would make any difference to the process and provided the result. Bones from turkey, pig, and cow were used at all different stages of the smithing process, and the results suggest that it would be difficult to identify such additions archaeologically. The article goes into a lot of detail with the experimental method, and also has an in-depth discussion on the implications of the results, as well as issues surrounding their interpretation.

Last but definitely not least, the final peer-reviewed article of this edition is entitled Testing Roman Glass in the Flame, by Sue Heaser. One of the many issues that faces experimental archaeologists is access to historically accurate materials. In many cases, truly authentic material is either rare or else completely unavailable, and so many researchers make do with comparable modern variations. In this article, the author investigates the difference in properties while working authentic Roman glass versus the modern glass often used to create Medieval beads, in order to see how much disparity there might be in between the experience of creating experimental replicas versus the real objects. The article is very, very detailed in its methodology and results, and would definitely be of interest to anyone interested in glass beadmaking, and the issue of replication using modern materials. 

As well as these peer-reviewed research articles, this edition of the EXARC Journal also has several unreviewed Mixed Matters articles. Six book reviews this time! Natural Leather Tanning by Markus Klek (reviewed by Douglas Meyer), Faserwerkstatt by Doris Fischer (reviewed by Christina Spaulding), Experimentelle Archӓologie – Vergessen Technologien auf der Spur (reviewed by Wulf Hein), Archaeology as Festival: Virtual Wanderings through FestivalCHAT during Covid-19 by Kiddey and Caraher (eds) (reviewed by Steve Burrow), Experimentelle Archӓologie, Jarhbuch 2022 (reviewed by Stefanie Ulrich), and Celtiform Pendants of Pre-Columbian Costa Rica: Production, distribution, and experimental replication by Waka Kuboyama-Haraikawa (reviewed by LeeAnn Culbertson). We also have four event reviews: RETOLD: Review of the Meeting at the Stone Age Park Dithmarschen, Albersdorf, September 2023 (reviewed by Rüdiger Kelm), The Norwegian Forum for Experimental Archaeology 2023 (reviewed by Fredrik Bjønnes), Celebrating Ten Years of Experimental Archaeology at the Baltic Experimental Archaeology Summer School in Riga, Latvia (reviewed by Giovanna Fregni), and Experimental Archaeology in Denmark 2023 (reviewed by Jannie Marie Christensen). And amongst all of these reviews, there is also a feature article entitled Experimental Archaeological Factors of Primary Education in China, written by Bangcheng Tang and Hongjie Wang.

So, a very packed edition this quarter! Lots and lots of interesting studies and reviews. Thank you so much to all of our authors for sending those in.

This was EXARC Extracts. If you want to find out more about the research mentioned in this episode, check out the latest edition of the EXARC Journal, which can be accessed online at exarc.net/journal.