LINKS AND RESOURCES

What is Experimental Archaeology?

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Experimental archaeology aims to re-create aspects of past societies, such as weapons or clothing, in order to test hypotheses or assumptions about that society in the past. This practical method of archaeological interpretation involves using modern replicas of historic artifacts and testing these objects in a controlled setting to see how they might have “worked” in the past. Often, experimental archaeologists will collaborate with MakerSpaces and their talented crafts-people to attempt to recreate ancient conditions using known techniques and materials available to the past culture in question. Overall, the goal of these experimental methods is to test the validity of a hypothesis.

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Several variants of experimental archaeology exist, one being historical re-enactment. In this context, historical re-enactment is a re-creation of a past culture, or one part of it. The aim is the

testing of theories about certain aspects of a culture, such as building construction, or the creation of clothing or weaponry. Closely related to historical re-enactment is reconstruction archaeology, where researchers create replicas of sites, tools, clothing, or weapons, using historically-accurate materials and technologies, like our "DeathMetal" project. 

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Links:

Professor Bettina Arnold's Publications:

http://uwm.academia.edu/BettinaArnold

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EXARC.net: 

https://exarc.net/experimental-archaeology

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Experimental Archaeology Working Group at UWM:

https://www4.uwm.edu/archlab/experimental/index.cfm

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Landscape of Ancestors Project:

http://people.uwm.edu/barnold/research/landscape-of-ancestors/

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Milwaukee MakerSpace:

https://milwaukeemakerspace.org/

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Frank Trommer, German blacksmith:

http://www.trommer-archaeotechnik.de

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