Rebuilding the clay oven at Camp Virtus

Though out "Bread of the ancestors" project did not get funded by Com'On Cluj, we did manage to attract a consistent donation of wood and timber so we can proceed anyway! Thus this Saturday, September 17th, from 12 la 6, we will be at Camp Virtus again for a bit for experimental archaeology. We shall start with building the roof over the oven, as this will protect the structure from rain and too strong sun and will allow it to dry slowly and nicely.

Though not dressed up as Dacians or Roman, we will be glad to receive visitors and explain the experiment. You can volunteer to help, you can donate, or you can just check it out. The other attractions available are bow and arrow target practice and sales organized by our partners from Atelierul de istorie - unique handmade objects inspired by the Dacian and Roman civilization. 

 

Vote for the remake of the ancient bread oven

A bread oven was built, as an experimental archaeology initiative, at Camp Virtus, near Cluj, earlier this year. We did bake bread inspired by models from Pompeii and thin pita bread and got the hang of it, but the construction unfortunately proved imperfect. We learned for example that the inner wattle structure leads to cracks and thus should not be used for such constructions; we also figured that the small door should be made BEFORE the oven mouth otherwise it will not fit as it should; and third, and most important perhaps, we learned that the oven should be covered, preferably with a water tight roof beforehand, as otherwise hot sun and rain damage it permanently.

Initiative 131 - C'mon Cluj-Napoca

The reenactors of Virtus Antiqua are thus ready to take up the experiment anew, tear down the old oven and built a new one. You can support their effort by voting the project online HERE, until September the 7th!

Testing the ancient bread oven

Now that the bread oven replica at Camp Virtus has dried in the sun, we wanted to go to the next level. The first step was to correct the cracks that had appeared in the body of clay - as the composition was certainly uneven [see the entry on how it was built] and the exposure to the sun one sided. After these have dried as well, the Roman-inspired oven was fired, noting some persistent cracks where smoke escaped.

The final step was to actually try and bake some bread, to see if the heat was indeed enough for the process. Due to bad weather conditions, we used aluminum foil instead of cabbage leafs or anything more antique. We were also short of the appropriate wooden tools, thus the embedded cord that we used to pull the bread out of the oven.

The result was not bad, the bread loaf a bit undone in the center, but that can be easily fixed with a bit of experience in baking times and procedure. We'll be having practical workshops soon!

 

Building a Roman bread oven

 There will be no art making this week as my hands are all stiff and cut - but it was worth it! Last weekend I was out at Camp Virtus for a load full of experimental archaeology. The project envisaged building a bread oven inspired by ancient Roman models (archaeological, from ancient depictions) using only local materials - clay, sand, straw, water, and twigs. 

The Roman clay oven mid-way

 It took seven people one full day to complete it (with the rocky base done during previous sessions), it ended up a bit asymmetrical, and we have not yet had the chance to test it - the clay oven must dry slowly and then be slowly fired before having the first test bread baked inside. 

But we had fun building it and solving the practical issues along the way. Not sure our colleague who contorted his body inside the oven during the construction had as much fun, but that's reenactment, it takes sacrifice!