Archaeological Open-Air Museum

Located on the corridor between the municipalities Ichenhausen and Kammeltal a Celtic Village provides insights into the lives of the people 2500 years ago, and so to speak, at the original location, because the farm, built by the friends of culture and recreation, is surrounded by a wealth of archaeological monuments, from Celtic times.

The Botai culture is especially interesting for research into the origin of horse domestication. They were a major user of domestic horses by about 3,500 BC. Excavations of Botai sites are ongoing. 

Ancestral communities selected this location for its defensible characteristics, access to water, and proximity to a wide variety of animals, fish and wild plants. The site is five acres in size. Three-quarters of the Lawson site remains covered by trees and is undisturbed by previous farming or archaeological digs.

The Yoshinogari hills were originally slated for one of Saga Prefecture's industrial areas, but the project was suspended upon discovery of ruins and relics, until further research into the area could be carried out. In 1986, the site was meticulously studied to understand whether it was a truly important cultural site. The concluding result was that this area was one of Japan's largest moat encircled villages dating from the Yayoi period (3c. B.C. - 3c. A.D.).

Excavation that started in 1992, and pit-dwellings, large pit-dwellings, burial pits for adults, burial jars for children, mounds, the remains of large and regular-sized pillar-supported building, storage pits, clay mining pits, and remains of roads have been found. These findings have revealed how people lived in this settlement, as well as the natural environment at that time.

The Bakkie Museum has one of the most unique collections in Suriname with many original books, prints and objects, like the original journals of J.G. Stedman 1799, the picture book of Benoit 1823, a Blaeu map of 1630, payments for abolition of slavery in 1863, a branding iron, crooked buoy, a West Indian Company (WIC) chocolate mold, a referral from Dr. Sophie Redmond and a coloured picture by Maria Sibylla Merian 1719. The garden at Bakkie is particularly special.

This was followed by a living experiment. Other buildings followed the construction of the dwelling: a granary, a smithy, a summer kitchen and a barn. When building the reconstructions, archaeological examples were used for the building layouts and ethnographical sources for the different roof designs. The hillfort and settlement site of Rõuge, located only 100 m away from the site, serves as a major source of information as it has been thoroughly excavated.

The copies of dwellings recreated with scientific accuracy belong to different archaeological cultures (Okunevskoj, taštykskoj, tagarskoj, kyrgyz) and, thanks to the realism of their exterior and interior, they literally reflect the traces of ancient civilizations.

Under the leadership of Aleksandra Lubāna, the Kroma Kolna bruoliste has begun work on the reconstruction of the Latgalian tribal wooden castle in Puši Zundas on the Prince Mountain in the Dagda district. It is the place where bruolsters meet at least once a month to share current information, both in terms of historical research and the activities that are being implemented and planned.