Experimental Archaeology

School of Human & Environmental Sciences Experimental archaeology Developing experimental approaches in archaeology at Reading What is experimental archaeology? All archaeologists study the fragmentary records of past human activities, which have been formed and modified over long timescales. Yet the traces we find often relate to activities and skills with which we are not familiar. These traces therefore need to be inter- preted in terms of past ways of life and presented to the wider public in an accessible, questioning and engaging way. Experimental archaeology has an important contribu- tion to make to the achievement of both of these goals. For example it may help us to understand how a build- ing represented only by postholes was constructed, while experimental replication helps us to understand how things were made and used in the past. In particular the microscopic wear traces produced by known experimental activities can be compared with those found on ancient tools. Experiment also helps us to understand how the archaeological record is formed: how artefacts are transported by rivers, the changes that take place when a soil is buried or an earthwork weathers, and the inclusion of micro-traces in the sediments of archaeological sites as a result of specific activities. Like all rigorous scientific methodologies, archaeological experiments seek to control variables in order to make precise measurements concerning those elements of particular interest or importance. For instance, excavations may be conducted at defined intervals to measure how an earthwork changes over time. The key is that good experiments are those which are carried out to test particular theories or hypotheses about the past. They are one of the ways in which archaeologists are developing more explicitly scientific methodologies, appropriate to understanding the particular characteristics of the archaeological record. In archaeology, experiments and hypothesis testing seldom provide proof that one particular theory is correct but they may very well enable that theory to be accepted or refined pending further critical enquiry. Good science is always questioning, always looking for a better answer. Experimental sites can be an important arena in which archaeologists can think critically about the formation processes of their record and put theories to the test in a way that also contrib- utes to education and outreach. Experimental archaeology Butser Ancient Farm at Reading Recent years have seen an increasing focus upon experimental archaeology at the University of Reading’s Department of Archaeology. Research by Professor Martin Bell, Dr Wendy Matthews, Professor Steven Mithen, and Dr Rob Hosfield, amongst others, has utilized experimental approaches, with projects exploring topics ranging from handaxe butchery to the modification of buried soils. This research has Butser Ancient Farm was set up by the late Dr Peter Reynolds involved a mixture of academic staff, doctoral research in 1972, near Petersfield in Hampshire. Since then it has students and undergraduate students, with experimen- focused mainly on issues of Iron Age archaeology and has tal archaeology helping to engage dissertation students played an important part in developing understanding of the construction of roundhouses, grain storage in pits, crop yields, with practical and science-based archaeology. and weed floras, and has increased understanding of many In 2007–9 the School of Human & Environmental other aspects of the archaeological record. Sciences at the University of Reading is supporting Since Dr Reynolds’ death in 2001 Butser has continued to a new project, Developing Experimental Approaches in develop, with the addition of a Roman villa created as part of a Discovery Channel television series. Butser has also been more Archaeology, designed to explore ways of develop- influential than Peter Reynolds may ever have envisaged: many ing experimental archaeological approaches in our of the comparable prehistoric experimental sites in Britain research and teaching. The project is led by Profes- are based quite closely on the model he created at Butser. For sor Martin Bell and Dr Rob Hosfield and also involves more information on Butser, including opening times, see: www.butser.org.uk Rowena Banerjea, Dr Alex Brown, Professor Stephen Nortcliff and Dr Wendy Matthews, drawing together the Department and the School’s research expertise in Roman metal working, weapons and body armour experimental archaeology. The project is also developing new inter-disciplinary links (including colleagues from the School of Human & Environmental Sciences at Reading, and other UK and European experimental archaeological sites), and conducting new pilot research projects in experimental archaeology. This booklet introduces aspects of the experimental archaeology with which we are involved at Reading, and offers our observations about how experiment in archaeology may be developed more widely in the future. Our purpose is to encourage a renewal of interest and involvement in experimental archaeology, and to stimulate students to think about possible experimental questions and projects for dissertation and doctoral research at both undergraduate and post- graduate levels. Dr David Sim is a skilled professional blacksmith and archaeologist who did his PhD at Reading on Roman iron working. He has carried out experimental studies of the production methods and effectiveness of weapons such as the Dacian battle scythe, and Roman armour. Dr David Sim gives demonstrations of iron working at the Silchester field school in July each year. For more information about the field school and its open days see: www.silchester.reading.ac.uk 3 Experimental archaeology Mesolithic tools, foods and structures Martin Bell & Steven Mithen in teaching and learning Preparing the report (Bell 2007) on our recent cam- paign of excavations on Mesolithic sites in the Severn Experimental archaeological sites and Estuary threw up all sorts of questions about how things were made and done in this period which could projects offer ideal contexts for teaching be partly addressed using experimental methods. We and create excellent possibilities for subsequently organised a Mesolithic experimental synergies between teaching and research. weekend at Butser, involving Reading students and volunteers in a mixture of teaching and research The opportunity to observe examples of activities (below left). In our Severn Estuary excava- buried soils formed over a known period tions we had found artefact distributions suggesting the existence of small, circular tepee-like structures. of time under known conditions has Our work at Butser showed that such a structure could been especially invaluable to our MSc be erected in less than a day and could provide sleep- ing accommodation for a nuclear family of 4 or 5. Our Geoarchaeology students here at Reading, excavations had also produced many heat-fractured while experimental contexts focus the stones and we discovered that these provided a very mind of the fieldworker on the formation effective way of cooking a salmon. We also conducted experiments replicating the wear traces left on bone processes of the record under excavation. artefacts used to prepare hides and work wood: these were helpful in interpreting the wear traces found on our Mesolithic bones. Although these were only small-scale, two day experiments (which we would like to take further) the exercise was extremely valuable, at a key stage in the post-excavation process, for thinking through in a practical way some of the problems of interpretation. Experimental methods were also similarly important in another of our Mesolithic projects: Professor Mith- en’s Southern Hebrides Project (Mithen 2001). Here a series of experiments explored flint knapping, tool manufacture and usages, and food preparation. Once again the experimental results aided in the interpretation of the project: for example the hazelnut roasting suggested that the most effective ovens are relatively shallow pits (combined with limited roasting times), and suitably small pits were identified at the site of Staosnaig (below left). The manufacture of an ‘Obanian’ harpoon took a total of six hours, suggesting that such items were curated, but also revealed that the required techniques could be quickly discovered and mastered with limited practice (arguing against the need for specific antler crafts‘men’). 4 • The role of spoken language in the learning of basic Experimental archaeology knapping skills (Adam Donnelly) • Handaxe manufacturing decisions as evident in re- and student research fitting sequences from replicated examples Experiments can also form the core of first rate (Faye Nash) student dissertation topics at all levels, promoting The following pages include short summaries of four well-defined problems, providing opportunities to student projects in particular: experimental archery combine field and laboratory work, and producing orig- exploring the effectiveness of later prehistoric arrow- inal and innovative data amenable to robust graphical heads (Tom Williams); experimental use-wear analysis and statistical analysis and interpretation. investigating the functions of Early Neolithic ‘projec- In the last few years there have been increasing tile points’ (Dr Sam Smith); woodworking experiments numbers of experimental archaeological research with later prehistoric axes (Anna Ward); and experi- projects undertaken by Reading Archaeology under-

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