Tara Green, Zoe Roettger, and Clark Glymph Introduction 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). Modeled after the three types of cuts left on these masonry remains—cuts in the ground, horizontal ones,…

Brett Brzycki, Edward Marotta, Lily Petersen This week’s lab focused on ancient methods of measurement using the groma and knotted ropes associated with Egypt. The knotted rope was an Egyptian measuring tool that created a right angle by dividing a rope into 12 equal segments with 13 knots that would create a 3-4-5 right triangle.…

Claire Saunders, Cole Kniep, Luke Pegram Introduction This week, we moved away from shepherds and food-making into ancient Greek and Roman military tactics, which we recreated on the Mini Bald Spot on campus. Before the lab, we read about how these different military models operated and how successful they were against each other. In a…

Madeleine Goldberger, Natalie Tatar, Caleb Valentino INTRODUCTION This week our class studied ancient Greek rituals. Specifically, we looked at ancient ritual fires. In ancient Greece, ritual fires were essential to religious life and served as a direct connection to God and was a symbol of unity. In order to prepare for the lab, we read…

Introduction This lab built on our continuing studies of Shepherding as a means to understand human behavior in antiquity through experimental archaeology. In the highlands of Crete in Greece, Shepherd’s economic world revolves on cheese production, which is facilitated by transmigration, between mountains and lower valleys across the warm and cold seasons (Blitzer). These pastoral…