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.
What was the average life expectancy of the medieval man in Denmark (DK)?
According to the statistics of skeletal finds, approximately 40 years. However, this includes a large infant mortality, and thus some people might well have lived considerably longer...
Where do modern musicians get medieval music from (NL)?
In different monasteries and libraries, sheet music dating back to the Middle Ages is kept.
How is wood tar made (NO)?
Tar is made by placing pine roots in a conical hole in the ground, lined with birch bark. They are then covered by turf, and set on fire. The turf keeps the oxygen out, so the wood doesn’t go up in flames. The sap is boiled out of the roots and runs to the bottom of the hole, where it can be collected as tar.
People back then were not that stupid after all … (CH)
No, why should they! The modern human (Homo sapiens sapiens) is around for about 37,000 years. Ever since, people have the same appearance and the same development of the brain as we do...
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 people actually communicate with one another (NL)?
This question goes for prehistory and the Middle Ages as well. From the emergence of modern man (the homo sapiens sapiens, following the homo sapiens neanderthalensis) we are sure people used spoken language...
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...
Why are the objects found below the earth surface (CH)?
When in the past a settlement was abandoned by the inhabitants, the left much garbage behind like pottery, bones or tools and the remains of their wooden houses...
How many people stayed on a Crannog (UK)?
Crannogs varied in size but it would probably be an extended family of parents, grand parents and children, aunts uncles, cousins, etc. Crannogs were used from 5,000 years ago to as recently as 250 years ago, so the number of people staying there would have changed as the function of crannogs changed.
Did people already drink tea in the Middle Ages or Iron Age (NL)?
Drinking tea, why did people do that is the first question. Tea can be used as a medicine or as an intoxicating means. Besides that it serves as a ceremony. "Herbal tea" actually does not exist...