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.
Other examples include:
- The Kon-Tiki (1947), 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.
- Since the 1970s the re-construction of timber framed buildings has informed understanding of early Anglo Saxon buildings at West Stow, Suffolk, England. This extensive program of research through experiment and experience continues today.
- 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, including 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.
- Guédelon Castle a medieval construction project located in Treigny, France.
- Ozark Medieval Fortress, a sister project to Guedelon
- The Pamunkey Project - Dr. Errett Callahan led a series of extended Late Woodland living experiences in Tidewater Virginia.
- Marcus Junkelmann, who constructed Roman devices and gear for various museums. He also tested and analyzed them in various reenactments among them a group of legionaries crossing the Alps in full authentic gear (from Augsburg to Verona).
- Reconstruction of Galileo's Experiment: the inclined plane.
- Reconstruction of Lomonosov's discovery of Venus's atmosphere.
Read more about this topic: Experimental Archaeology
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