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An interesting case of experimental archaeology: a researcher decided to make a model of an ancient Greek (Aegean Bronze Age) cooking contraption that had an unclear purpose. Her findings were that the device was used as a kind of portable grill upon which skewers could be placed. Turns Out The Ancient Greeks Were Quite The Grill Masters I could go for some Greek food one of these days… 😀
you should try their pita as well!http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pita
From reading this post it is very easy to understand, but it would make a good post this to happen so soon.
Now that is an interesting find. I know I am generally down on archaeology but I find experimental archaeology quite fascinating.That is one of the main reasons I am bound and determined to put together a short trip next year to see Guédelon Castle in Burgundy.
About experimental archaeology, last year Ig Noble award was won by:ARCHAEOLOGY PRIZE: Brian Crandall [USA] and Peter Stahl [CANADA, USA], for parboiling a dead shrew, and then swallowing the shrew without chewing, and then carefully examining everything excreted during subsequent days — all so they could see which bones would dissolve inside the human digestive system, and which bones would not. REFERENCE: “Human Digestive Effects on a Micromammalian Skeleton,” Peter W. Stahl and Brian D. Crandall, Journal of Archaeological Science, vol. 22, November 1995, pp. 789–97. Here is the full list of the 2014 winners : Improbable ResearchAs they say: achievements that first make people laugh, and then makes them think
Now that is disgusting. I wonder how much they could have learned since our contemporary digestive systems probably don't work quite as intensely as the ones of yesteryear.
… since our contemporary digestive systems probably don't work quite as intensely as the ones of yesteryear.
What would make you think that?
Just a guess, but I think that the stomachs of years past would have encountered a lot more foreign things, such as undercooked/overcooked and junk meats, less processed grains, bacteria of all kinds, misc. bits and pieces (bugs, bones, etc.). Am I just imagining it, or do I recall some theory that the human appendix may have been responsible for helping humans digest things like leaves and the like?
That may be true for westerners but probably not for people of less developed parts of the world. I would guess if that was your concern then the researchers should have went to some African village and had the people there eat the shrews, which is probably not much different than their regular diet.I have heard that theory about the appendix too. That it is the remnant of our previous ruminant chamber.
Just a guess, but I think that the stomachs of years past would have encountered a lot more foreign things,
and they're not now???? (sugar, processed foods, preservatives, etc.)I doubt digestive acid properties would have changed much, so I think this was a very clever experiment. Kinda gross…but clever.
Yeah, I suppose getting someone from a poorer country would have been better and more accurately reflected the stomachs of our ancestors.I recall drinking the water in Mexico years ago and returning to the U.S. with the bad results….to me, that suggests stomachs behave differently depending on quality of food.
