House of Questions
Delphi House of Questions was an EU Culture 2000 project by three EXARC members. Under this umbrella, other EXARC members as well collected and answered the most frequently asked questions by visitors to archaeological open-air museums. The largest part of this collection of questions you can find here – as many of them still carry importance. In most cases we offer the questions both in the original language and in English. With several questions you will find illustrations by Savannah Parent.
What was the occupation of the people living in the lake fortress (LV)?
They were mainly engaged in agriculture, stock-keeping, forest bee keeping, crafts and trade. Also important was the utilisation of wild resources: fishing and hunting, especially the...
People back then were not that stupid after all … (CH)
No, why should they! The modern human (Homo sapiens sapiens) is around for about 37,000 years. Ever since, people have the same appearance and the same development of the brain as we do...
Did people make everything by themselves in prehistory (NL)?
Most settlements were probably mostly autarctic, taking care of their own food, clothing, pottery, tools et cetera. There are however clues for the exchange of goods and resources which were not present in the local environment...
What language did people speak in the early Middle Ages (NL)?
The language spoken in the Netherlands in the early Middle ages we now call Old Dutch. It’s actually a collection of dialects which were spoken in the Low Lands between 600 and 1200...
What kinds of wood did people use in Prehistory for tree canoes (NL)?
Kinds of wood used in Dutch prehistory were for sure oak (Quercus), lime (Tilia) and needle wood. The fact that more different kinds of wood were used could refer to that...
Did they use animals in the Middle Ages (NL)?
Domestic animals (dog and horse in Stone Age, the sheep with the first farmers, the pig, chicken with the Romans - roughly said) are wild animals which were domesticated by humans for own use...
How heavy is a mammoth tusk? What is its value (CH)?
We have never weighed the tusk in the museum in Zug, but it is this heavy, it has to be carried by two people. The value cannot be expressed in money as it is of scientific nature...
How heavy was a knights' suit of armour (DE)?
A complete suit of armour of a knight in the late 13th and early 14th century weighed about 30 to 35 kilogrammes. To us, this may seem heavy, but a knight was used to carry his equipment from very young childhood on...
How many people lived in a Neolithic house in Northwest Schleswig (DE)?
This is not easy to say. We think that it could have been about ten persons in one long-house – all ages, all sexes, all social groups. We only can make comparisons to houses from younger times to get some idea...
Why was Araisi built on an island in the lake (LV)?
Āraiši lake fortress was built and inhabited in the Viking Age (9th–10th cent. AD) by the Latgallians, one of the ancient Baltic groups. In the middle and second half of the...