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 the people of the lake fortress dress (LV)?
Excavated material permits reconstruction of the dress of the people living on the island. Women wore long linen shirts with half-length or full length sleeves. Simple wraparound skirts were made from a rectangular piece of woollen fabric...
I saw visitors throw coins into a few of the wooden canoes in the museum. Why (DE)?
This question rather requires answering by ethnologists. From archaeological view, this phenomenon can easiest be explained as the popular adaptation of earlier ‘”water cults”. From prehistory, we know numerous sacrifices...
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...
What did prehistoric women do when they had their period (NL)?
Perhaps prehistoric women did not have their period as often as nowadays. In times of lack of food, during pregnancy and the lengthy period of breast feeding, they didn't get bleeding...
Could Romans read and write (NL)?
Only the rich were able to afford a private teacher (paedagogus). He would teach young Romans basic reading, writing and arithmetic. At an older age children had to learn famous Roman poems and epic stories by heart...
Didn't people in prehistory already have names (CH)?
Until in the Late Iron Age (3rd century BC), people did not use writing. In general, therefore, we are dealing with an alphabetic culture, so we do not have any names form this time...
Why do we find more stone artifacts than wood artifacts (CH)?
Wood is a material, which conserves poorly in the soil as it decays. Only in water the conservation is better, as the wood is sealed off from the air...
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...
How could people live in these smoked through rooms (DE)?
Medieval people were used to the smoke, like the modern city people the exhaust smoke of cars. Furthermore we should suppose, in the Middle Ages people could make a fire with much less smoke then...
How old did people get in the Middle Ages (NL)?
Averagely 35 years. Many children died before they turned 5 years old and very few people got really old (50 - 70 years). http://www.literatuurgeschiedenis.nl/thema.asp?ID=8 (in Dutch)...