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 there any withches burnt at the Bronze Age stake at the museum in Asparn (AT)?
The stake did not serve as place to burn witches, but the people at the end of the Bronze Age were generally cremated, ashes were collected in an urn.
What contacts existed between the inhabitants of the lake fortress and other countries (LV)?
In the Early Middle Ages, active trading contacts developed in Latvia, also involving the inhabitants of the lake fortress. Imported jewellery and parts of weapons have been found in the cultural layer...
Which materials did people use in the Middle Ages to construct a house (NL)?
Most people built their houses in the Middle Ages just like in prehistory: a wooden frame, walls of plaited branches covered with clay and a straw thatched roof. Only later in the Middle Ages, only the rich could afford using stone or bricks...
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...
Did people use the calendar as we know of already in the Middle Ages (NL)?
The Romans had a calendar which consisted of 10 months, starting on March 1st and ending with December. In between was an unnamed winter period. The priests’ task was to determine the start of every new year...
What language did people speak in the early Middle Ages (NL)?
The language spoken in the Netherlands in the early Middle ages we now call Old Dutch. It’s actually a collection of dialects which were spoken in the Low Lands between 600 and 1200...
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...
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...
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 the first people arrive in the area of present-day Latvia (LV)?
The earliest people settled in the territory of Latvia when the last ice sheet had melted and the first simple flora and fauna had developed...