Lustrum seminar - prof Annelou van Gijn - 'The life history of a house: An experimental approach'

The WEAG is proud to present its first activity in the context of the 100th anniversary of the Groningen Institute of Archeology. For this combination of lustrum lecture and Research Seminar, the WEAG welcomes Prof. Annelou van Gijn, professor of Archaeological Material Culture and Artefact Studies at Leiden University. In her lecture, Professor Van Gijn will share her special experiences with experimental archeology.

Abstract

In the summer of 2012, archaeologists from Faculty of Archaeology - Universiteit Leiden built a reconstruction of a Late Neolithic house plan in collaboration with Staatsbosbeheer Horsterwold. The aim was to fully document and quantify the house building process, quantifying labor time, materials used and the amount of time each tool was handled. Only stone age tools were used, and their biographies were carefully documented as they were to be subjected to microwear analysis and to form part of the experimental reference collection of the Leiden Laboratory for Artefact Studies. Over the years repairs were carried out as the house was used by Staatsbosbeheer and students alike. After a 3D scan and careful documentation of the inside contents, the house was intentionally burned down in March 2019. We monitored the temperatures and the progress of the fire. Although it would have been ideal to leave the burning site for several years, we had to excavate the remains only a few months later. In this presentations the results of both the building process, the findings of the fire and the excavation results will be presented.