5 Things Experimental Archaeology Taught Us About Prehistory (E2)

How has experimental archaeology affected the way we understand the past? James discusses five of the studies and influential people who have been involved in the discipline over the years. Dr. Dilley gives a short overview of his own experimental research into early Upper Palaeolithic hunting technology. His research focussed on a fascinating period called the Aurignacian, when modern humans were moving into Europe and making tools from new materials.

Sweet Track image credit: richardbrunningswht

Tree felling in Denmark image credit: Noble, G. (2017). Altering the environment. In Woodland in the Neolithic of Northern Europe: The Forest as Ancestor (pp. 45-68). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press

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To find out more about my flintknapping and experimental archaeology visit my website or follow me on social media!

[KelvynTaylor]

Love these talks, James. More please! :-)

[markknowles]

Excellent fare for lockdown, in particular! Really interesting: thanks James.

[markknowles]

Mark Knowles
1 second ago
James, how feasible would it be for Bronze Age warriors to maintain the effectiveness of their weapons in the absence of a fully equipped 'mobile workshop', as it were? I'm thinking in particular of the men of Argo (irrespective of whether the voyage took place or not). I guess they might have access to a whetstone but, as you mentioned, there must come a point where a weapon is simply too damaged or cannot be trusted to maintain its integrity in combat...

[davidfoster]

Great video! It's very obvious with bow drills and bow & arrows that one idea was transferred to the other. Which came first?

[LuxisAlukard]

About bronze weapons:
Of course bronze swords could chip, crack, bend or break, during combat - which is normal when you are trying to hit someone with your weapon and he block with shield made of metal or wood. But it can happen to steel weapons as well, because steel isn't indestructible =)
Also, bronze mace-heads were used in medieval Europe, so bronze isn't bad at all!
P.S. I'm just rewatching some old videos while waiting for new to come out! Cheers!

[morelcultivation]

that experiment in Denmark you talk about...you should tell the whole story and why we should never do that again....and it was not even archaeologist that made the experiment and they didnt do it right and destroyed some of the last ancient forest in Denmark.

[allanmcintosh]

Would Neolithic farmers have felled the trees or simply ring barked them and waited for them to die? Once a tree is dead it would be a far less labour intensive to simply burn down the tree and burn out the stump.