John,
Experimental Archaeology is a broad and rather porly defined field.  As I
understand it, it includes making and using (replicas) of ancient
technology within scientific framework.  By that I mean, not just making
things for the fun, but with some larger goal, usually understanding
either the ins-and-outs of the the technology itself or some specific
element of it, to answer questions about the past.  As an example, my own
work involved making replicas of archaeological bone tools, using them in
various ways and then observing teh microscopic wear patterns on them, so
that I could identify similar patterns on archaeological tools.  Others
have done such vaious things as cutting down trees with replica stone or
bronze axes and more ambitiously, recreating whole prehistoric living
environments.  A classic source is John Coles 'Archeology by Experiment'
(Scribners, 1973).  P. J. Reynolds 'Iron Age Farm' (British Museum 1979)
describes just that, a living Iron Age Farm.  This is a very active area
of archaeology, and publications are scattered around in a vareity of
journals (e.g. Journal of Archaeological Science, for the more scientific
end of the spectrum, and various regional jornals for specific studies).
Hope this helps.
Genevieve LeMoine
The Peary-MacMillan Arctic Museum
Bowdoin College
Brunswick ME  04011   [log in to unmask]