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 did children in prehistory do (NL)?
There were no schools yet as nobody could read or write, so no time needed to be wasted on that. Instead, they had to help with jobs in and around the house like cooking, spinning wool and tending the cattle. Surely they had time for play as well. Excavations revealed for example small ceramic pots and animals. Maybe these were toys.
What kind of jewellery did people wear in the Middle Ages (NL)?
Well, that depended on who you were. There were large differences in classes, between farmers, civilians, clergymen and the nobility.
Often jewellery was about your profession (if you were a man)...
Were the Neolithic house posts in Northwest Schleswig really this thick (DE)?
Yes, they were. We found the structures inside of the postholes; and it was clear enough to separate the rest of the post itself from the surrounding soil filling...
Why did people believe in the Middle Ages, the world was flat (NL)?
Well, far from everybody thought so. It was long before this, Pythagoras (580 - 500 BC) got to the point, the world was round. After him, many people followed - each with own reasons who thought the world was round, even in the Middle Ages...
You are cheating – they didn’t have iron axes in prehistory, did they (DK)?
No, not in the Stone Age. But here we are in the Iron Age. Do you remember the names of the periods: Stone Age, Bronze Age and Iron Age? You do not need to be embarrassed, but the names tell us when the different materials were introduced...
Why didn't people build houses from stone (DE)?
Technologically speaking, stone constructions have been known in Central Europe since the Early Iron Age. But in those times stone was rather used for city walls than ordinary houses, because of its limited availability...
Did people have soap in the Early Middle Ages (NL)?
The Romans didn’t use soap: they cleaned themselves with olive oil and some sand to remove dead skin cells. Soap supposedly is a Gallic or Germanic invention...
Did people already have wine bottles in the Celtic area in Austria (AT)?
No, the wine was served in large bronze buckets (Situlae). The Celts did however use bottle shaped vessels from clay, the so called lentil bottles.
What kind of religion did people practice in prehistory (NL)?
On base of archaeological finds only, it is hard to reconstruct the religious beliefs of the past. Many aspects of it, like stories, songs and most rituals do not leave any traces in the soil that we can recover today...