Experimental Archaeology Conferences

EAC Conferences

In 2006, an experimental archaeology workshop was organised at University College London. This was the modest start of an internationally frequented recurring conference on Experimental Archaeology. The conference is a low-budget, low-fees meeting, open to all people interested in experimental archaeology, from academia and from a crafts background, museum people and re-enactors.

border

The next EAC conference will take place in 2025. Location TBA

border

Up until the conference in Dublin, the main organiser and host was a university, often with an archaeological open-air museum on the side, part of the excursion day. EXARC has been involved from the very beginning. From 2017 on EXARC is organising the conference. 2012 – 2017, we had a dedicated conference website, administered by Dr Fillery-Travis who also managed much of the social media presence of the conference.

In 2018, the conference pages merged into the EXARC website. Here you will find a simple archive with all conferences and abstracts so far. Also, if a conference review exists, you will find them below. EAC conferences do not only have presentations of posters and papers. Often there is an excursion too as well as several workshops. These are not all mentioned in our online archive.

City Year No Papers / Posters / Hotspots Participants Published Review
London 2006 EAC1 11 / 0 33    
Exeter 2007 EAC2 12 / 2 78 YES  
Edinburgh 2008 EAC3 13 / 0 60   YES (PDF)
Aberdeen 2009 EAC4 9 / 0 ?   YES (PDF)
Reading 2011 EAC5 15 / 9 64    
York 2012 EAC6 12 / 13 44   YES
Cardiff 2013 EAC7 19 / 15 100 YES YES
Oxford 2014 EAC8 15 / 8 70   YES
Dublin 2015 EAC9 21 / 28 220   YES
Leiden 2017 EAC10 31 / 30 128 YES YES
Trento 2019 EAC11 46 / 32 191 YES YES
World Tour / Exeter 2021 EAC12 98 / 32 / 39 30,000 views YES YES
Toruń 2023 EAC13 72 / 12 61 / 8,800 views   YES

Featured

Conference Review: EAC13, Torun, Poland, May 2023

Author(s)
Phoebe Baker 1 ✉,
E. Giovanna Fregni 2,
Jess Shaw 3
Publication Date
This year EXARC/EAC held its first fully hybrid conference at Nikolaus Copernicus University in Toruń, Poland on 1-3 May. Using the experience and technology from the EAC World Tour, the previous conference in 2021, EXARC was able to include international speakers who would otherwise be unable to participate in the conference.

Keynote Closing Address for EAC12: The Worldwide State of Experimental Archaeology and the Agenda for the Future

Author(s)
Linda Hurcombe 1 ✉,
Peter Inker 2
Publication Date
EAC Conferences
***Linda Hurcombe and Peter Inker gave the closing talk at EAC12 amazing conference. They did it in the same way as at the conference: Peter was online in the United States and Linda was online in the United Kingdom. The conversations between the two of them have been running throughout the live conference...

Conference Review: 11th Experimental Archaeology Conference - EAC11, Trento 2019

Author(s)
Caroline Jeffra 1
Jilian Garvey 2
Publication Date
EAC Conferences
***The 11th Experimental Archaeology Conference was this year held in Trento, Italy, organized by EXARC and the University of Trento. Over 190 participants gathered together hailing from more than 25 countries, and for the first time the conference ran parallel sessions. The conference spanned three days...

Conference Review: Fields of Dreams - the EAC10 Conference, Leiden 2017

Author(s)
Rena Maguire 1
Publication Date
EAC Conferences
***In recent years, experimental archaeology has increased in popularity among academics and students alike due, in no small part, to pioneering universities such as Exeter, University College of London, Leiden and University College of Dublin...

Conference Review: 9th Experimental Archaeology Conference, Dublin 2015

Author(s)
Katy Whitaker 1
Publication Date
EAC Conferences
***The ninth Experimental Archaeology Conference was held over 16-18 January 2015 at University College Dublin (Ireland). A large gathering of nearly 200 delegates from more than 25 countries across the EU and the Americas was hosted by UCD School of Archaeology and the Irish National Heritage Park. Twenty papers and 26 posters...

Conference Review: 8th Experimental Archaeology Conference, Oxford 2014

Author(s)
E. Giovanna Fregni 1
Publication Date
EAC Conferences
***The conference unofficially began in the Royal Blenheim pub at 6 pm on Thursday evening. Conference staff and attendees filtered in throughout the evening eventually filling the back room. The pub had excellent food and a good variety of local ales. Those who managed to brave the flooding introduced themselves and got to know...

Conference Review: 7th Experimental Archaeology Conference, Cardiff 2013

Author(s)
Heather Hopkins 1
Publication Date
EAC Conferences
***The 7th Experimental Archaeology Conference was held on 12-13th January 2013. This annual event, first held in 2006. This year it was hosted jointly by the School of History, Archaeology and Religion at Cardiff University and St Fagan’s Open-Air Museum. Seventy-five delegates originally booked to attend, but one hundred actually...

Conference Review: 6th Experimental Archaeology Conference, York 2012

Author(s)
Ruth Fillery-Travis 1
Publication Date
EAC Conferences
*** Established in 2006 with a workshop at UCL London, the Experimental Archaeology Conference is an annual event aiming to bring together experimental practitioners from Europe and afield. Since 2006 it has been held at a variety of locations in England and Scotland...