Two replica Iron Age canoes built as part of an archaeological experiment have been tested for the first time.
This paper presents the results of a controlled archaeological experiment designed to assess the opportunity costs associated with the addition of temper to clay during prehistoric pottery production sequences.
Given the results of the experiments and archaeological and ethnographic evidence, small groups of foragers probably baked sego lily bulbs or a similar resource near the collection patches for immediate consumption.
Within a mechanistic framework, we can experiment with archaeological research questions in much greater depth and detail, in a manner more akin to psychology than the 'harder' sciences.
To study the microstructure and chemical composition of Baba Jilan bronze artefacts, ten metallic samples from archaeological excavations were selected for experiments (Fig. 1).
Building on the technological analysis and preliminary functional screening of the archaeological material, a series of experiments was designed to evaluate different hypotheses for notch formation (blank production, intentional notching, hafting, projectile use, and trampling).
The efficacy of this strategy is demonstrated through its application to a previously examined data set derived from three iron production experiments and a published archaeological example.
The model presented here can be tested through study of preform length, finished point proportions, fracture patterns, haft element features, and use-wear analysis in archaeological specimens, as well as actualistic hunting experiments.
Results of the shooting and stabbing experiments and comparisons between experimental specimens and archaeological specimens suggest that hunting weapons equipped with trapezoids had a mechanism of a cushion at their hafting parts or connected parts between shafts and fore-shafts.
The data obtained through the experiments applied in the analysis of the archaeological microliths from Geometric Kebaran and Natufian sites in Israel indicate different approaches to the design of projectiles fitted with microliths characteristic for these cultures.
