Hurstwic's video: Hurstwic: Preliminary Experiment number 4

In preparation for Hurstwic's Fire Festival in July at Eiríksstaðir, we have conducted a number of preliminary experiments. This video is a progress report, detailing one experiment and what we learned from that experiment. We are using experimental archaeology to investigate the common Viking-age battle tactic of attacking an opponent by setting fire to his longhouse. The nuances of this kind of attack are described in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-hUxbpFjqM For the preliminary experiment described in this video, we built, instrumented, and burned a structure in the lab of the Fire Protection Engineering Department of WPI. We built the door, door frame, and the framing structure through the turf passageway behind the door to test how the fire spread from the outside to the inside of the door and then on to the door framing material and along the passageway to the first room of the house, the anddyri. We also tested the survivability of someone standing behind the door as the fire was set who, according to literary sources, might be trying to extinguish the flames, or to negotiate the safe release of the some of the house occupants. The Fire Festival is a festival of experimental archaeology, which will be held at the center of experimental archaeology in Iceland: the reconstructed Viking-age turfhouse at Eiríksstaðir on July 5-7, 2024. More information is on the webpage for the festival. https://www.hurstwic.com/fire/