We started at the mini bald spot. 3-4 groups gathered on the mini-bald spot to create a road, and the others collected on the midi-bald spot. Each aimed to measure a centuriate from there. It took a while for our group to begin, mainly because there was a great debate about the perfect place to…
Surveying data: Lab group C
This week we built and attempted to use basic Roman surveying equipment. The groma, pictured above, has four arms arranged in a cross with weights hanging down from their ends, and from the center. By lining up three cords with a distant point (as Soren and Ruby are doing here), you can guarantee points in…
Group A Tactics Data
This week’s lab was very much focused on the experiential side of things, as we were trying to asses the battle formations of the hoplite, the phalanx and the maniple in three very qualitative metrics: the time needed to learn the basic functions within the formation, the feeling of safety within the formation, and whether…
Data Report Week 8: Tactics
Our research questions: Formation 1: the greek hoplite Equipment: Description of formation: Notes on the formation in action: Formation 2: the phalanx (mass transition to this tactic in 338 BC) Equipment: Description of formation: Notes on the formation in action: Formation 3: the roman maniple Equipment: Description of formation: Notes on the formation in action:…
Group F Week 8 Data Collection: Tactics
This week’s experiment into ancient military formations ended up being much more experiential than it was experimental. The questions we were investigating, such as the learning curve for each formation and ease of tactics or holding positions, are quite subjective metrics to try to quantify and so we generally asked ourselves how we were feeling…
Group A data report – week 7
Group A: Ellie, Kenton, Maya, Ben This week in lab was a ton of fun, and looking back, we learned more than we had realized. The differences between unleavened cheese bread, simple unleavened bread, and sourdough were enormous. In density alone there was enormous difference. Libum My group started out the lab by making Libum,…
Group B Data – Grain Lab 1
For this week’s lab exploring Grain, we set out to uncover the effect of including a farro-paste in bread making practices that mimicked those published in Cato the Elder’s On Agriculture from 165 BC. Our lab group, Group B, was charged with making Spira, a variant of the bread and cheese cake Placenta. Spira involves…
Group B Data Report – Dyeing and Sheepies!
For our lab this week, we ventured out to Alejandra’s farm in Kenyon, Minnesota. Our goals for the lab were to meet and interact with the sheep who we have spent so much time learning about and to put into practice the same dyeing processes we learned about last week. Another important goal of the…
Dye Data: Group F
This week we explored the world of natural dyes, relying on the expertise of Alejandra. We dyed white and grey wool with three dyes: indigo, marigold, and logwood. All three are plant-based: indigo and marigold are flowers, while logwood is a large, flowering tree. All of these dyes were historically used in Central and South…
Group A data – Dye week!
Group A: Ben, Helen, Em, Amelie Getting to Alejandra’s farm felt like stepping into another world – one of animals and peace. It let us leave behind the stresses of campus life and academics for an afternoon. We were still learning of course, but having tons of fun while we were at it! While we…
