I am a trained crafter (joiner) supporting archaeological research by practical work. In the past 30 years I have carried out numerous archaeological experiments and fashioned countless reconstructions for international museums, universities and institutions, from tiny bone needles to whole full scale neolithic houses. In the last years I made numerous illustrations and designed several archaeological exhibitions. I am co-organizer of the annual European flintknapping symposium, foundation member of EXARC and member of EXAR and AEAS. My current research project is the ongoing Ergersheim Experiment about early neolithic woodworking. Address: Reichelsheim/Wetterau, Germany
In March 2011 we started a series of experiments concerning woodworking in the early neolithic Li... more In March 2011 we started a series of experiments concerning woodworking in the early neolithic Linear Pottery Culture. Given that there were no parallel hafted stone hatchets but only traverse hafted adzes in that time, we carried out the first field experiment in an oak forest near Würzburg (South Germany), trying to cut down an oak of more than 40 cm diameter and approx. 20 m height with stone adzes. The attempt was successful, although we had a lot of problems with the tools, and the tree fell after about eight hours of hard work. The shavings and cut marks produced during the work correspond very well to the findings from the Bandceramic wooden wells discovered in East Germany.
Popular report on the experiments on Early Neolithic woodworking conducted in Ergersheim (Francon... more Popular report on the experiments on Early Neolithic woodworking conducted in Ergersheim (Franconia, Germany) in the most popular magazine on archaeology in Germany. Just two pages, but important to show that experimental archaeology is more than running around in a few rags, swinging unusable stone tools.
Final version of a paper on the practical use of Early Neolithic (Bandkeramik) adzes. Experiments... more Final version of a paper on the practical use of Early Neolithic (Bandkeramik) adzes. Experiments carried out by the team of Archaeoforum in Ergersheim, Germany.
Attention: The previous version that was available here was titled "Steinbeil im Einsatz", there have been other, minor corrections an modifications too.
In March 2011 we started a series of experiments concerning woodworking in the early neolithic Li... more In March 2011 we started a series of experiments concerning woodworking in the early neolithic Linear Pottery Culture. Given that there were no parallel hafted stone hatchets but only traverse hafted adzes in that time, we carried out the first field experiment in an oak forest near Würzburg (South Germany), trying to cut down an oak of more than 40 cm diameter and approx. 20 m height with stone adzes. The attempt was successful, although we had a lot of problems with the tools, and the tree fell after about eight hours of hard work. The shavings and cut marks produced during the work correspond very well to the findings from the Bandceramic wooden wells discovered in East Germany.
Popular report on the experiments on Early Neolithic woodworking conducted in Ergersheim (Francon... more Popular report on the experiments on Early Neolithic woodworking conducted in Ergersheim (Franconia, Germany) in the most popular magazine on archaeology in Germany. Just two pages, but important to show that experimental archaeology is more than running around in a few rags, swinging unusable stone tools.
Final version of a paper on the practical use of Early Neolithic (Bandkeramik) adzes. Experiments... more Final version of a paper on the practical use of Early Neolithic (Bandkeramik) adzes. Experiments carried out by the team of Archaeoforum in Ergersheim, Germany.
Attention: The previous version that was available here was titled "Steinbeil im Einsatz", there have been other, minor corrections an modifications too.
Recreating Artefacts and Ancient Skills: From Experiment to Interpretation, 2022
The author describes his experiment on reproducing the famous Lion Man statuette found in the Aur... more The author describes his experiment on reproducing the famous Lion Man statuette found in the Aurignacian layers of the Hohlestein Stadel cave on the Swabian Alb. Several flint tools and processing techniques were tested, revealing significant information about the crafting skills of Ice Age artists and the properties of mammoth tusk as a raw material.
The Jeongok Prehistory Museum in South Korea. Like a stranded UFO the building is settled between... more The Jeongok Prehistory Museum in South Korea. Like a stranded UFO the building is settled between the hills at a river (See Figure 1), the sun reflects off the metal outer skin. Standing in the entrance area, you feel as though you are in a film by Stanley Kubrick, but as you pass through into the structure it is a surprise to find yourself outside in the middle of the African savannah, surrounded by prehistoric people and all kinds of animals. The new Prehistory Museum in the north of South Korea unites futuristic architecture with the archaeology of humankind in an elegant way and attracts a million visitors yearly with its charm.
Dan Høj, a Danish archer and Viking reenactor, is very well known for his expertise in archery, e... more Dan Høj, a Danish archer and Viking reenactor, is very well known for his expertise in archery, especially in regard to the history of the bows used in North European (pre)history and in his new book he addresses the Viking era.
HEIN, W. u. TROMMER, F. (1995b): ...brennt wie Zunder! Steinzeitliche Feuererzeugung im Experimen... more HEIN, W. u. TROMMER, F. (1995b): ...brennt wie Zunder! Steinzeitliche Feuererzeugung im Experiment. In: A. SCHEER (Hrsg.): Eiszeitwerkstatt - Experimentelle Archäologie, Museumsheft 2. Museum Blaubeuren, S. 73-77
Final version of a paper on the practical use of Early Neolithic (Bandkeramik) adzes. Experiments... more Final version of a paper on the practical use of Early Neolithic (Bandkeramik) adzes. Experiments carried out by the team of Archaeoforum in Ergersheim, Germany. Attention: The previous version that was available here was titled "Steinbeil im Einsatz", there have been other, minor corrections an modifications too.
Popular report on the experiments on Early Neolithic woodworking conducted in Ergersheim (Francon... more Popular report on the experiments on Early Neolithic woodworking conducted in Ergersheim (Franconia, Germany) in the most popular magazine on archaeology in Germany. Just two pages, but important to show that experimental archaeology is more than running around in a few rags, swinging unusable stone tools.
In the faunal assemblage cave bear which hibernated in the Geißenklösterle cave is the predominan... more In the faunal assemblage cave bear which hibernated in the Geißenklösterle cave is the predominant species in the entire sequence. Geissenklösterle provided a wide and diverse faunal spectrum, and the layers before the glacial maximum around 20,000 BP can be ...
Das Schleswig-Holsteinische Landesmuseum wird in Zukunft ohne ihn auskommen müssen: Harm Paulsen,... more Das Schleswig-Holsteinische Landesmuseum wird in Zukunft ohne ihn auskommen müssen: Harm Paulsen, der „Ahnherr“ der Archäotechnik, ist in den Ruhestand verabschiedet worden. Er hat wie kein zweiter die Experimentelle Archäologie in Deutschland geprägt, denn Paulsen interessierte sich von klein an für Geschichte. Nach Ausbildung und Marinedienst wird er durch einen schweren Unfall gezwungen, sein Leben neu zu orientieren, und wendet sich nun ganz der Archäologie zu. Der gelernte Elektroniker beginnt, die Technik der Steinzeit praktisch nachzuvollziehen, baut Pfeilbögen und Einbäume und bringt es bei der Bearbeitung von Feuerstein zu wahrer Meisterschaft . Schließlich erhält Paulsen eine Anstellung am Archäologischen Landesamt und kann nun zeigen, was in ihm steckt – als Multitalent rekonstruiert er nicht nur prähistorische Funde, sondern baut auch Modelle und Inszenierungen, profi liert sich als Grafi ker und Illustrator und vermittelt „lebendige Geschichte“ an Besucher und Medien. E...
Hein, W. 2021: Imparting Prehistory. Museum, archaeotechnique and the public. In: Seokjangri Pale... more Hein, W. 2021: Imparting Prehistory. Museum, archaeotechnique and the public. In: Seokjangri Paleolithic Study Group 2021: New trend of the world prehistory. Partstudio, Seoul, 151-175
Book about the practice of flintknapping featuring:
a short introduction about the use of flint i... more Book about the practice of flintknapping featuring: a short introduction about the use of flint in history a lot of descriptions of techniques and strategies, do-it-yourself tipps and tricks, from simple arrow heads up to Danish daggers, written by renowned practitioners a brief study of artefact types written in German 371 pages, 560 figures and photos
Der Ausstellungskatalog zeigt hochkarätige Exponate aus dem reichen Themenspektrum der Altsteinze... more Der Ausstellungskatalog zeigt hochkarätige Exponate aus dem reichen Themenspektrum der Altsteinzeit Mitteleuropas. Dabei steht der Zeitraum im Fokus, ab dem Menschen der Art Homo neanderthalensis sich ganz bewusst für das Leben in der Kälte der gemäßigten Breiten entschieden haben.
Der kulturelle Umbruch mit dem Homo sapiens seit etwa 40.000 Jahren ist weltweit nirgends so gut dokumentiert wie in der süddeutschen Kleinkunst des Aurignacien. Einige der berühmten Elfenbeinobjekte werden hier erklärt und ihre Herstellungsweise rekonstruiert. Auch zu den nachfolgenden Epochen – dem Gravettien und Magdalénien – sind Exponate von Weltrang vereint, wie aus Dolní Věstonice und Předmostí, dem Schamanengrab von Brno oder der Pekárna-Höhle (alle Tschechien), Laugerie-Haute (Frankreich) und Gönnersdorf (Deutschland). Einige der herausragend schönen Kunstwerke werden in diesem Katalog erstmals in qualitätvollen Farbabbildungen gezeigt.
Short movie about reconstructing a palaeolithic flute following the measurements recorded with th... more Short movie about reconstructing a palaeolithic flute following the measurements recorded with the Aurignacian flutes from Geissenkloesterle Cave in Southern Germany.
Ergersheim experiment No. 7 was carried out in March 2017 to check a theory by an archaeologist f... more Ergersheim experiment No. 7 was carried out in March 2017 to check a theory by an archaeologist from the Netherlands saying that neolithic stone battle axes could have been used for felling trees by cutting the roots. The results of our attempt were not convincing, battle axes are, due to their dull edge, not really effective in processing wood. Moreover it´s almost impossible to cut all roots of even a small oak tree. However, we were surprised how resilient these axes are, they withstood even the hardest stress and took tens of thousands of blows without breaking. Aside from this, we were very successful in splitting trunks with wooden wedges, even tangential splitting worked very well.
6th experiment weekend on Neolithic woodworking, this time testing several axe types, splitting &... more 6th experiment weekend on Neolithic woodworking, this time testing several axe types, splitting & making boards, making a haft from ash wood and much more (including a lot of broken tools ...)
Short movie about reducing malachite to metallic copper in open fire pits using only blowpipes an... more Short movie about reducing malachite to metallic copper in open fire pits using only blowpipes and lung power.
This is a slightly improved (i.e. better proof read by a native speaker) online version of the id... more This is a slightly improved (i.e. better proof read by a native speaker) online version of the identically titled paper in the proceedings of the Albersdorf EXARC-conference in 2013 with the figures in colour.
For the version in print R. Elburg/W. Hein/A. Probst/P. Walter, Field trials in Neolithic woodworking – (Re)Learning to use Early Neolithic stone adzes. In: R. Kelm (Hrsg.) Archaeology and Crafts - Experiences and Experiments on traditional Skills and Handicrafts in Archaeological Open Air Museums in Europe. Albersdorfer Forschungen zur Archäologie und Umweltgeschichte 5 (Husum 2015) 62–77 see https://www.academia.edu/8694145/Field_trials_in_Neolithic_woodworking_Re_Learning_to_use_Early_Neolithic_stone_adzes
Exhibition illustration based on the mesolithic burial from Vedbæk in Denmark. Coloured pencil, c... more Exhibition illustration based on the mesolithic burial from Vedbæk in Denmark. Coloured pencil, cardboard
A sample for archaeological drawings I have made for my own books, heritage authorities or other ... more A sample for archaeological drawings I have made for my own books, heritage authorities or other publications
Uploads
Attention: The previous version that was available here was titled "Steinbeil im Einsatz", there have been other, minor corrections an modifications too.
Attention: The previous version that was available here was titled "Steinbeil im Einsatz", there have been other, minor corrections an modifications too.
a short introduction about the use of flint in history
a lot of descriptions of techniques and strategies, do-it-yourself tipps and tricks, from simple arrow heads up to Danish daggers, written by renowned practitioners
a brief study of artefact types
written in German
371 pages, 560 figures and photos
Der kulturelle Umbruch mit dem Homo sapiens seit etwa 40.000 Jahren ist weltweit nirgends so gut dokumentiert wie in der süddeutschen Kleinkunst des Aurignacien. Einige der berühmten Elfenbeinobjekte werden hier erklärt und ihre Herstellungsweise rekonstruiert. Auch zu den nachfolgenden Epochen – dem Gravettien und Magdalénien – sind Exponate von Weltrang vereint, wie aus Dolní Věstonice und Předmostí, dem Schamanengrab von Brno oder der Pekárna-Höhle (alle Tschechien), Laugerie-Haute (Frankreich) und Gönnersdorf (Deutschland). Einige der herausragend schönen Kunstwerke werden in diesem Katalog erstmals in qualitätvollen Farbabbildungen gezeigt.
For full functionality please refer to the online version on the EXAR website at http://journal.exarc.net/issue-2015-2/ea/field-trials-neolithic-woodworking-relearning-use-early-neolithic-stone-adzes (active link at the top of the page).
For the version in print R. Elburg/W. Hein/A. Probst/P. Walter, Field trials in Neolithic woodworking – (Re)Learning to use Early Neolithic stone adzes. In: R. Kelm (Hrsg.) Archaeology and Crafts - Experiences and Experiments on traditional Skills and Handicrafts in Archaeological Open Air Museums in Europe. Albersdorfer Forschungen zur Archäologie und Umweltgeschichte 5 (Husum 2015) 62–77 see https://www.academia.edu/8694145/Field_trials_in_Neolithic_woodworking_Re_Learning_to_use_Early_Neolithic_stone_adzes