Experimental Archaeology at the Cross Roads: A Contribution to Interpretation or Evidence of ‘Xeroxing’? Martin Bell
Experimental archaeology has featured little in literature about archaeology theory. In this chapter, I introduce key concepts deserving greater emphasis by experimental archaeologists. Analogy from ethnography and experiment expands our pool of ideas. Pre-understandings can be controlled for, and interpretations can be tested against a range of sources of evidence of varying independence. The focus here is on medium and long-term experiments, e.g., in Open Air Museums. The chapter draws examples from earthworks (barrows, banks and ditches) and buildings (round and rectangular), and it highlights the role of faunal agents in the formation of the archaeological record and the reciprocal relationships between faunal and human agents.
