Buzz
Archaeology can be an incredibly challenging endeavor. Extracting objects from the earth is just the initial step. The real puzzle comes in understanding what these artifacts are, how they were made, and what their intended purpose was. At times, the only way to uncover their secrets is by recreating and testing them ourselves. This method is known as experimental archaeology, and here are 10 of its most fascinating examples.
10. The Trireme Olympias
Ancient Greek triremes were the pinnacle of naval warfare in the Mediterranean. These fast and nimble vessels could sail long distances and, when needed, deploy their oars for combat. Depictions of these ships are found in many carved reliefs and descriptions of sea battles. However, there was much debate about how the triremes' defining feature—the three levels of oars—were operated. Rowers were certainly packed in tight (as Aristophanes, the comic poet, humorously notes: “Fart(ing) in the face of their rowing mate”), so how could they coordinate their movements?
To answer this, experimental archaeologists recreated a full-scale trireme. Manned by volunteers, the ship was put through a series of tests over several years. Despite minimal training, the crew managed to reach speeds of 9 knots and perform rapid 180-degree turns. With a fully trained crew, a fleet of such ships would have been an incredibly powerful force.
9. Guedelon Castle
How difficult can constructing a castle really be? One might think it’s as simple as stacking stones until a defensible structure is formed. However, the number of skilled craftsmen needed to build a castle was enormous. Stone masons are just one example. To fully understand how a castle could be constructed, a group of experimental archaeologists set out to build one using only the techniques that were available during the medieval period.
Guedelon Castle is an authentic reconstruction project that began in 1998. This endeavor has provided valuable insights into the process of castle construction. One of the findings is that the mortar used quickly stained the stone, which likely explains why castles were often covered in plaster and painted to hide these unsightly marks.
8. Moving Monoliths
How did ancient civilizations manage to transport massive stone blocks weighing several tons? They certainly couldn’t have used wagons, as they didn’t have the simple technology of wheels available to them.
In 2010, a student observed the remarkable similarity in size between certain carved stones found near monolith sites and hypothesized they were used together. By placing replicas of these stones into wooden tracks, moving the large stones became surprisingly manageable.
However, this theory doesn’t apply to Stonehenge, one of the most iconic ancient sites in the world. The stones used in its construction were quarried 260 kilometers (160 miles) away. Transporting them using rollers over such a distance would have been an extraordinary undertaking—likely more challenging than the construction of the monument itself.
In 2012, a simple method was demonstrated for loading the stones onto a replica of a Bronze Age boat using just a few logs. Moving them by sea and river would have been far less difficult than transporting them over hills and through dense forests.
7. Building Pyramids
The Great Pyramid of Giza stood as the tallest man-made structure for an astonishing 3,800 years. The volume of stone used to build just this one pyramid exceeds 2.5 million cubic meters (91 million cubic feet). And this is only one of more than 100 Egyptian pyramids in total. But how were they constructed? It was once believed that the work was done by countless slaves. Today, the prevailing theory is that it was a workforce of free men. Yet, the mystery remains: how did they manage such an incredible feat?
A NOVA documentary demonstrated how few workers (just 1,200) were needed to quarry the required stone. With most of the stone sourced locally, large-scale transport wasn’t necessary. Their experiments showed that just 12 men could move a 1.5-ton stone. It’s estimated that a workforce of only 5,000 men could have built the Great Pyramid in 20–40 years.
6. Crossing The Alps
In 218 BC, Hannibal made his famous invasion of Italy by crossing the Alps with 45,000 men and 37 war elephants. This much is certain in history. However, the exact route taken by the invader remains a subject of debate. In 1959, John Hoyte decided to retrace this legendary journey himself. And, true to the original, he didn’t forget to bring along an elephant.
Jumbo, the elephant, was generously provided by the Turin zoo. The first route they attempted proved impossible, forcing them to take an alternative path—the same one followed by Napoleon when he crossed the Alps two millennia after Hannibal. In just 10 days, they arrived in Italy. Jumbo had shed a total of 250 kilograms (500 lb) but was otherwise in good condition.
In 1985, experimental archaeologist Marcus Junkelmann led a team across the Alps in the opposite direction, all wearing authentic Roman army gear. They completed the march from Verona to Augsburg in just one month.
5. Middelaldercentert
The Middelaldercentert, also known as the “Medieval Center,” located in Denmark, is a comprehensive site dedicated to exploring experimental archaeology of the Middle Ages. They were the first to reconstruct a trebuchet, a type of medieval catapult, in modern times. Capable of launching heavy projectiles hundreds of feet, it has been fired over 10,000 times without major repairs.
The center has also reconstructed a medieval church and the oldest cast iron cannon, which is fired using gunpowder produced from scratch. Additionally, they’ve tackled inventions imagined during the medieval period but never actually constructed. These include a tank, a car, and a perpetual motion machine, all created from ancient texts. Surprisingly, none of these devices are functional... yet.
4. Making Mummies
Egyptian mummies were designed to ensure that the dead would journey into immortality by preserving their physical remains. In a way, they succeeded, as mummies remain the most lasting image of ancient Egyptian civilization. The embalming techniques were documented in ancient writings, but not all methods were recorded, and a great deal remains unknown. Much of what we do know is still not completely understood.
Bob Brier took it upon himself to create a modern mummy in order to better understand the ancient procedures. When a man died of a heart attack, he took the body and followed the embalming methods described by the ancients, using only tools and chemicals that would have been available in the ancient world. Years later, the body remains in a slightly damaged yet well-preserved state, as it was after mummification.
3. Archimedes’s Weapons
According to some historical sources, Archimedes turned his brilliant mind to inventing powerful weapons when his city of Syracuse was under siege by the Romans. It is said that he developed a claw capable of lifting ships out of the water and sinking them. Additionally, a series of mirrors was believed to have focused the Sun’s rays onto enemy ships, setting them ablaze.
Details about how Archimedes’s devices actually worked are unclear. As a master of levers, pulleys, and buoyancy, Archimedes was well-equipped to accomplish feats like sinking ships with a claw. Any ship approaching the harbor could have been captured and dragged over the walls. A BBC documentary demonstrated that such a mechanism was possible (if challenging to operate) by constructing a working model.
In an experiment, an MIT class used 127 mirrors, each measuring one square foot, to direct sunlight onto a replica of a Roman ship. After 10 minutes, the ship's wooden structure caught fire. It’s important to remember that this experiment took place under perfect sunlight, with a stationary target and no seawater to cool the ship. Could Archimedes have made this work in reality? More testing would be necessary to confirm.
2. Hokule’a
One issue with the Kon-Tiki was its lack of steerability. Heyerdahl didn’t see this as a problem, believing the movement of humans across the Pacific was simply a matter of drifting with the currents. Others, however, disagreed with this assessment.
The Hokule’a, a double-hulled canoe, was launched in 1976 to demonstrate that navigation was a crucial skill for island-hopping. The 4,000-kilometer (2,500 mi) journey from Hawaii to Tahiti in the same year was successful, relying on the expertise of a navigator from Micronesia. This skill, which had been lost in Polynesia, involved navigating by the stars and interpreting ocean swells. The navigator was even able to detect when the ship was off-course by how the vessel responded to the swells.
1. Kon-Tiki
Thor Heyerdahl investigated the people, plants, and animals of the Polynesian islands. His studies led him to question the widely accepted theory regarding the origins of the people there. While most believed the people arrived from the East, Heyerdahl theorized that they sailed from South America instead.
Heyerdahl traveled to South America, venturing into the rainforests where he cut down Balsa trees, floating them down the river to the sea. On the coast, he built a raft using only basic techniques. With his crew, he sailed eastward. Despite the death of the parrot they brought along, the humans survived the 101-day journey to Polynesia, nourished by fish caught during the trip and crabs that infested the raft. While Heyerdahl demonstrated that the ancients could have made such a journey, the idea of whether they actually did is still debated.
