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.
Could Romans read and write (NL)?
Only the rich were able to afford a private teacher (paedagogus). He would teach young Romans basic reading, writing and arithmetic. At an older age children had to learn famous Roman poems and epic stories by heart...
What temperature is a fire (NL)?
The heat of a fire depends on the type of fuel and the quantity of added oxygen. A simple wood fire can reach about 700 - 800 ° C.
Was book printing a Dutch invention (NL)?
Absolutely not! The oldest printed books we know originate from China, where people printed books with wooden blocks as early as the 8th century. The oldest dated book, dated by its maker, is the Chinese “Buddha’s Diamond Sutra”: May 11th, 868. It is one of Buddhism's greatest treasures...
Did people in prehistory use any hygienic means, tools (razors, toothbrushes et cetera) (CZ)?
Yes, they did. For example special razors were made in the Bronze Age (but before that people may have cut their beards and hair with stone tools which we cannot recognise)...
Where were Romans buried (NL)?
If at all, Romans were buried outside the city-gates, probably for hygienic purposes. Travellers on the main roads leading to the city were greeted by a long queue of tombstones. The inscription on Roman graves sometimes even welcomed visitors coming to the city.
Roughly estimated, how many people inhabited the world in the year 1 AD (NL)?
The World Population 25,000 years ago was about 3,5 million people. In AD 1, these were about 170 million...
Since you have a fire in the house and only a small hole in each end of the house, didn’t people suffer from smoke inhalation (SE)?
Well, from what we’ve seen we don’t need any more openings for the smoke to get out. The ones in each end creates a draft which makes the smoke rise up to the ceiling and escape easily without allowing any to be disturbing.
How old did people in the early Middle Ages become (NL)?
On the basis of research on 66 skeletons from a graveyard in Susteren (from around 800 to 1100 AD) we know that women on average reached the age of 44 years and men on average 38 years. The infant death rate must have been very high. About one third of the children died before reaching five years.
When did human settlement begin in the Cesis area, and who were the earliest settlers (LV)?
It is not known exactly when human habitation began in the Cēsis area. The process of settlement began in the Mesolithic (7600–4500 BC) and continued in the Neolithic (4500–1500 BC). These people were still hunter-fishers...
How did they put the wooden piles into the loch (UK)?
They sharpened the bottom end of the pile to a point using axes. They tied a cross piece of timber and attached it near the top. A person on either side of this cross piece could then twist back and forth to drive the pile into the bed of the loch.