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.
Did people bathe in the early Middle Ages (NL)?
Roman baths were still used and maintained in some places at the beginning of the early Middle ages. In monasteries there were sometimes baths too...
What is the use of a division in Old, Middle and Young Stone Age (CH)?
Stone Age takes from 130,000 until 4,200 years before present, or no less then a huge period of 125,800 years. To understand this period better, archaeologists have tried to divide it into different phases, using certain criteria...
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...
How tall did people get in the early Middle Ages (NL)?
A graveyard from the Merovingian era (470-750) gave an average height for men of 174 cm. Skeletons from a graveyard in Susteren from the Carolingian age (750-900) resulted in an average height of 172.5 cm. According to Statistics Netherlands, Dutch men...
How many parish churches existed in Denmark in the Middle Ages (DK)?
In total there were 2,000 stone churches, all built between 1150 and 1250 AD. In libraries in Denmark you will find books about them...
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 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.
Could they already weave textiles in the Iron Age (NL)?
Absolutely, textiles are already known from the Stone Age. In these areas, little is found (in sandy soils, this is not preserved that well), but there are many clues, like weaving weights, belts and pins et cetera. The surely still used animal furs but textile was in well use. The value of it was much more than today, however...
In the Iron Age, who was exactly the boss (NL)?
That depended on where exactly: at home, in the village.. Life was probably very much structured because the security of existence of every individual and the group as a whole depended on it...
What musical instruments did people use in the Middle Ages (NL)?
In those days, people knew stringed instruments like the harp, lyre, lute and the hardy-gurdy. The blown instruments they knew were horn, trumpet, bagpipes and flute. And then the percussion instruments: drums, timpani, rattle, clatter, bells, cymbals and tambourines.