Lab Group Data – Experimental Archaeology / Experiential History

Week 9 Lab Data

Groups 5 and 6 worked with the Nick model, which leveraged gravity to cut a stone lying on the ground, using a bronze blade. The blade was essentially a sector of an annulus, with radius 17cm, and an arc length of 49cm and 40cm. The first stone we tried to cut was an 11cm by…

Week 9 Lab Data: Bronze Age Saws

Introduction This data report is jointly written by Claire Saunders and Caleb Valentino, and pertains to the horizontal saw. Saw Design The original saw design featured a vertical pendulum beam which would be pulled back and forth via rope. The horizontal arm had the blade on one end, and on the other a wooden brace…

Week 9 Lab Data: Bronze Age Saws

Introduction: This week we looked at saw markings from Bronze Age Greece. Our experiments involved testing out full scale, working models of pendulum saws, evidence of which is found in masonry remains primarily in Mycenae, during the height palatial period (1370-1190 BC). The questions that this data is concerned with involve the effectiveness/efficiency of the…

Week 9 Lab Data: Bronze Age Saws

Unlike the last few labs, all of the work for this lab was done on the day of and the day after. We started by bringing up one of the saws, which was incredibly unwieldy to move about due to the distribution of the weight and all the different parts. Once we had gotten the…

Week 8 Lab Data Group 1: Measurement

We started preparing for this lab earlier than any other so far. On Monday, we began by tying knots in a rope that would be used to create triangles that we would be able to know the dimensions and therefore areas of. However, our first unforeseen complication arose when we attempted to make evenly spaced…

Week 8 Lab Group Data 5: Measurement

Monday Class: Building Your Measuring Rope We started the week of measuring by preparing a knotted rope. We started with a 33 foot length of rope and ties knots every 29 inches until we had 13 knots and 12 even sections. Through configuration of this rope and the power of 12, we were able to…

Week 8 Lab Data Group 3: Measurement

The preparations for the lab this week began on Monday, a whole four days before the main lab would occur on Thursday. We began by tying knots into a 33 foot long rope, each 2.5 feet apart from each other. The total number of knots in the rope should have added up to 13. However,…

Group IV: Measurement Data

The measurement lab of week 8 made us use gromas, stakes, and rope in order to learn how to make straight lines, right-angles, and learn the magic of measurement from the ancient world! The 30-Minute Road After construction of our groma and knotted rope, we could start our measurement adventures. First we started with construction…

Week 8 Lab Data Group 2: Measurement

This week’s lab focused on ancient ways of measurement. It was divided into three sections: Monday included the making of a rope with knots for making right triangles; Wednesday was mainly the construction of the groma; Thursday was actually using the groma to do measurements. Monday For Monday, we had to make a rope with…

Lab Group Data: Measurement (Group 6)

Summary For this lab, we were responsible for building a groma, a measuring device from ancient Rome that allowed for the creation of 90° angles and sight-lines for straight lines. Then, we practiced four exercises with the groma: making a “road,” an “observation zone for soothsayers,” a grid/Roman colony, and measuring the area of an…

Category: Lab Group Data