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 did medieval people burry their dead (NL)?
Medieval people wanted to be buried as close as possible near the relics of a saint or a church altar. Rich people were buried inside the church, in a monastery church or monastery hallway...
Which types of animals did people keep in the Iron Age (SE)?
The Iron Age agricultural structure was more based on animal husbandry than the growing of crops. The Iron Age farmers of what was to become Sweden kept several types of animals. The two most important ones were cows and sheep...
What games did Roman children play (NL)?
A wide variety of Roman games are known. These games vary from the simple throwing of nuts in a pot (Orca), to Roman rugby (Harpastum) and even chariot races with two hoops on a stick.
How important was the individual in the Middle Ages (NL)?
A possible answer is to be found at Nisbet:"as one of the points of calibration of Nisbet's vision on history, the transition between the Middle Ages and the Modern Era stands, in which both should be less seen as easy discernible...
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 did they put the wooden piles into the loch (UK)?
They sharpened the bottom end of the pile to a point using axes. They tied a cross piece of timber and attached it near the top. A person on either side of this cross piece could then twist back and forth to drive the pile into the bed of the loch.
Did people have contraception (NL)?
Contraception aids are hardly known from Prehistory. The Greek and Romans used different ways of not getting pregnant: medicines, special positions, periodical abstinence, as well as amulets. If this failed, even then they already used abortion...
In the Late Middle Ages in the Netherlands, were there already shops where clothing, furniture and food was for sale (NL)?
At crossings of trade roads (over land and water) often, places were set up for (year)markets. These places were often occupied only a part of the year, but the most important ones grew out to permanent settlements and eventually complete towns...
Were there any cult houses and if so, where were the clay breasts found? Is there proof for male or female priests or shamans (DE)?
Probably there were cult houses in the Late Young Stone Age, from 4,300 BC. We for example know such buildings from Ludwigshafen and Sipplingen at the Lake Constance and from Marin / Les Piècettes at the Neuenburger Lake in Switzerland.
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.