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.
Were Trébuchets common in Denmark (DK)?
As far as we know, they were relatively common. None have survived till modern times, but they are mentioned regularly in written sources...
Did all people in the Neolithic houses in Northwest Schleswig sleep in one bed/place (DE)?
There were „big“ bed-constructions existing and we can estimate that they gave room for a few people, maybe belonging to one family? Anyway it is nearly clear that all people slept in a single room – the room with the fire-place!
What kind of clothes did the Neandertal people wear (CH)?
We know much too little about that because clothes do not remain conserved in the soil for such a long time. We can presume however, the Neanderthal used this what they had to their disposal...
What did the people of the lake fortress look like (LV)?
Anthropological and demographic studies give us an idea of the physical characteristics of the ancient Latgallians in the Early Middle Ages. Latgallian men living in the 7th–13th century had an average stature of...
How and why is a reconstruction of Araisi lake fortress being built (LV)?
Āraiši lake fortress was attacked and destroyed in the late 10th century, and was never rebuilt. When the foundations settled and the water level in the lake rose, the building remains and artefacts ended up underwater, and in these anaerobic conditions they were preserved up to the present day...
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...
Are there in Czech Republic any archaeological finds from caves? And if there are, where are they? (CZ)
At present in Czechia we know of 200 archaeological site in caves, below overhanging rocks and in gorges, Most of the sites were discovered in the karst areas: mostly in the Bohemian Karst (Central Bohemia, south-west from Prague), Moravian Karst (Central Moravia) and Štramberk Karst (Northern Moravia)...
Were there many parties in the Middle Ages? (NL)?
The image we have of the Middle Ages is often about the king at his castle, knights and ladies, jokers et cetera. But the truth was much different...
Did the people of the Old Stone Age use fishing nets (CH)?
Did they have chimneys in prehistory (CZ)?
They did not have chimneys in our sense of the word, but from at least the Bronze Age we presume that makeshift chimneys, for example made from wicker and daubed with clay would take smoke from hearths through ceilings...