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.
How long did it take the Vikings to build a house like the Borg Museums’ longhouse (NO)?
It depends on what resources and materials were available. A possible estimate is one to two years (the reconstruction took one year to build), but we must also consider that the house seems to have been continually added to and maintained.
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...
What did prehistoric women do when they had their period (NL)?
Perhaps prehistoric women did not have their period as often as nowadays. In times of lack of food, during pregnancy and the lengthy period of breast feeding, they didn't get bleeding...
Were people in prehistory buried in some sort of covering, something like coffin or a bag (CZ)?
That depends on time and region. In Bronze Age Czechia there is evidence of wooden coffins either from planks or dug out from tree trunks. Timbered burial chambers...
What did people eat in the Iron Age (NL)?
For sure no potatoes or tomatoes, these originate in America. Food was only seasonally available: bread and porridge was always available where there was cereal - by the end of the Winter, people often suffered from hunger...
Are there in the Czech Republic any excavations of modern battlefields (CZ)?
Yes, from the Thirty Years’ War. In 1989-90 and 1999-2004 a research excavation of a battlefield at Třebel in Western Bohemia took place. Below the castle of Třebel at the end of August, beginning of September 1647 the Swedish army led by general Wrangel clashed with the Imperial army led by general Melander...
What can the study of pre- and protohistoric pottery contribute to the knowledge of the contemporan society (FR)?
Analysis of pottery gives us the possibility to answer questions concerning functional, economical and social aspects of the groups, having produced this ceramics...
You use the saw a lot in your museum. What did Medieval people do with all that sawdust (NL)?
Indeed the hand saw is frequently used in our medieval village. But we use the axe even more: for construction wood, fire wood, you name it. The saw dust and small pieces of wood which remain are not thrown away...
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...
To what archaeological culture Biskupin settlement belongs and what is the current dating (PL)?
To the Lusatian Culture. Biskupin is dated according to the latest dendrochronological study on 750 - 700 BC.