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.
Was it really true, in the Iron Age, men hunted and women cooked the food above a camp fire (NL)?
Surely there was a set division of tasks between men and women, more traditional then nowadays. Probably, inside the house, the women were in charge, men outside. Contrasts were important; air - earth, inside - outside, north - south...
Did people tidy their houses in prehistory (CZ)?
Certainly, the earliest Neolithic houses had smooth floors from fine clay stamped down (it was not simply the stamped down surface of the ground but a layer of...
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...
You are cheating – they didn’t have iron axes in prehistory, did they (DK)?
No, not in the Stone Age. But here we are in the Iron Age. Do you remember the names of the periods: Stone Age, Bronze Age and Iron Age? You do not need to be embarrassed, but the names tell us when the different materials were introduced...
Was the longhouse at Borg really 83 metres long (NO)?
Yes, the house was this long during its last phase of existence, but it had been rebuilt several times, so the length has varied.
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...
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.
How did people build megalithic tombs (NL)?
First, enough large stones needed to be collected. Presumably this happened in the neighbourhood where the megalithic tomb was planned. Researchers presume the stones were not moved...
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...