Archaeology and Experiment: Moving beyond the Artifacts

Sponsoring Organization(s)

AVISTA: The Association Villard de Honnecourt for the Interdisciplinary Study of Medieval Technology, Science, and Art; EXARC

Organizer Name

Neil Peterson

Organizer Affiliation

EXARC

Presider Name

Neil Peterson

Paper Title 1

Working with Craftsmen: The "It Depends" Dilemma

Presenter 1 Name

Christina Petty

Presenter 1 Affiliation

Univ. of Manchester

Paper Title 2

Experiencing Viking Age Spinning Technologies

Presenter 2 Name

V. M. Roberts

Presenter 2 Affiliation

York Univ.

Paper Title 3

The Making and Breaking of Moulds: An Experimental Approach to Non-Ferrous Metalworking in Sweden

Presenter 3 Name

Rachel Cogswell

Presenter 3 Affiliation

Univ. College Dublin

Start Date

11-5-2019 10:00 AM

Session Location

Bernhard 209

Description

Archaeological sessions tend to focus on presentation of results from excavations or preliminary analysis. Experimental archaeology moves beyond the artifacts, allowing researchers to examine the underlying question of "how" related to artifact finds. Ideally, experiments can provide a preliminary answer to the question "Does this theory of how it was done actually work". A keystone of experimental archaeology (and a differentiator from reenactment/recreation) is that it follows the scientific method of question, setup, and result - whether that result is positive or negative. Presentations in this session will be expected to review all three key elements in the discussion of their paper. Papers submitted for these sessions would be good candidates for publication in the EXARC Journal. Neil Peterson