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 make everything by themselves in prehistory (NL)?
Most settlements were probably mostly autarctic, taking care of their own food, clothing, pottery, tools et cetera. There are however clues for the exchange of goods and resources which were not present in the local environment...
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...
How did they warm the houses in the early Middle Ages (NL)?
With wood and turf. A hearth can be found in virtually all excavated houses. Often this is a round spot with a lot of charcoal and orange burned clay. The hearths sometimes were constructed on small platforms...
Roughly estimated, how many people inhabited the world in the year 1 AD (NL)?
The World Population 25,000 years ago was about 3,5 million people. In AD 1, these were about 170 million...
Have the megalithic structures found in the artisans quarter of the gallo-roman city of Alesia really been used for the smelting of metal or enamel (FR)?
Experimental archaeology found that the most probable use of these structures was as heating ovens for clay-moulds being used for the smelting of bronze in the so called “lost form”...
Who was King Arthur and when did he live and rule (NL)?
King Arthur is a myth. See for an extensive explanation: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_arthur
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...
In the Iron Age, how many people used to live in the houses in Biskupin (PL)?
There were 100 houses in the fortress with a total of 700 – 1000 people staying. The area of an average house was 70 – 90 square metres. Each house was divided into...
Did a Dutch 14th century city stink (NL)?
That is difficult to answer because: what is stinking actually? It smelled different in a medieval town than nowadays. Almost all houses had a fire place where wood was burnt. Poor people would burn turf (smells more)...
Didn't medieval shoes have soles and didn't they wear out very soon (NL)?
Medieval shoes had merely a thin sole. To prevent this from wearing out too fast, but also in order to prevent the feet from getting wet, people wore wooden shoes called "trip". These are a kind of wooden slippers which could be worn over the shoe. Experiments show that such shoes are worn out after a couple of months. Probably the medieval people then bought a new pair or had the old ones fixed.