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.
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...
What was the state of hygiene and health care in a lake fortress (LV)?
The lake fortress had a privy and a bathhouse or sauna, located on the perimeter of the complex. Hair was combed with bone and antler combs, and with combs made of pig bristles. Clothes were washed by beating...
Why are different parts of the Iron Age called in different ways (SE)?
Also in Sweden, the Iron Age is divided into the Early Iron Age (500 B.C - 400 A.D.) and the Late Iron Age (400 - 1050 A.D.). These period are in turn subdivided...
What were roofs made from during the Bronze Age (CZ)?
Remains of roofs are rarely preserved so we know little about them. They may have been thatched but at that time people did not grow corn with long stalks as rye later in Middle Ages and modern times and...
Did a Dutch 14th century city stink (NL)?
That is difficult to answer because: what is stinking actually? It smelled different in a medieval town than nowadays. Almost all houses had a fire place where wood was burnt. Poor people would burn turf (smells more)...
Why are there so many archaeological monuments preserved in the area in Northwest Schleswig (DE)?
In this region, there is a long history – since the 16th century - of protected forests. Wood was very important because of the vicinity to the open sea and the „woodless“ marshlands. This had the consequence that there was no agricultural use in younger times in this region!
What was the most used weapon in the Middle Ages (DK)?
The sword. But else there were trebuchets, bombarders and weapons with gunpowder, by the end of the Middle Ages...
Do we know what the interior of prehistoric houses looked like (CZ)?
Not much survived because original floors have been destroyed by erosion. Hearths are preserved more commonly (from the Aeneolithic on they were carefully built from daub, stone, isolation layers of bark and so on) or arched ovens...
Is the invention of the wheel the oldest invention (NL)?
For sure, people invented many other things earlier, like for example the use and keeping of fire. As many inventions, the wheel was first seen in the Near East, about 8,500 years ago. But these wheels were used as slow turning potter’s wheels. Pottery was already an old technology back then...
How many people lived in the Netherlands in prehistory (NL)?
Estimations of population numbers in the Netherlands in prehistory are based in information from ethnography, burial places, traces from settlements and many assumptions...