Mesolithic

The European Association of Archaeologists held its annual conference of 2016 in Vilnius, Lithuania. About 1,500 participants attended a programme, with a similar number of papers, in over 100 sessions. About a dozen EXARC members attended; what follows here is a review of three sessions...

The Archeofest is an experimental archaeological festival designed by Paleoes - eXperimentalTech ArcheoDrome (EXTAD), a cultural association comprising of experimental archaeologists, anthropologists, experts of ancient technologies and their re-enactments, whose focus on making the archaeological knowledge more comprehensive to the public...

Baskets are among the most ancient of human artefacts. Everyone is familiar with their most common functions as containers for transport and storage. When told that baskets have also served as cooking vessels, most people will be unable to conceive of how this is possible, yet this was a primary function of baskets for many cultures of the past, and some until the present...

MAMUZ is the new name that combines the Lower Austrian museum of prehistory Niederösterreich Asparn/Zaya and the museum centre Museumszentrum Mistelbach to create a centre of experiences and knowledge covering 40,000 years of the history of the human race. Using the example of its archaeological open-air site, the museum of prehistory MAMUZ aims to...

The book “Archaeology and Crafts” is a transcript of the proceedings of the VI OpenArch-Conference held in Albersdorf, Germany, on the 23-27 September 2013. The conference was an activity of the OpenArch project –a cooperation of Archaeological Open-Air Museums across Europe of which the AOZA...

In the last quarter of the 1900s, John Coles (1979) and Peter Reynolds (1999) introduced the subject of experimental archaeology, which has gained significant momentumin the past few years. The discipline has become essential for reconstructing past technologies, in addition to supporting archaeological theory.

These experiments cover the making and testing of several possible glue types that might have been used in the hunter and gatherer period of the European Stone Age. Glue types produced in these experiments are: 1. Birch bark tar and pitch, 2. Pine wood tar and pitch, 3. Pine resin / wax glue, 4. Pine resin / wax / charcoal glue, 5. Hide glue and 6. Blue Bell glue...

OpenArch Dialogue with Skills Issue
***Two new huts in the Stone Age Park Dithmarschen in Albersdorf (Germany) were built in spring 2014 by the Experimental Archaeologist and Educator Werner Pfeifer with the support of some friends and with financial support from the Stone Age Park Dihmarschen and the EU co-financed project OpenArch.

OpenArch Special Digest 2015 Issue 2
***Over the years my personal research interests have focussed on the less tangible elements of the past, such as gender issues, perishable material culture, and the sensory worlds of the past, but all of these have been underpinned by a longstanding appreciation of the role experimental archaeology can play as...

OpenArch Special Digest 2015 Issue 2
***During summer 2014, just over 30 students from Archaeological Studies at the University of Hamburg, as well as four children, participated in a practical week of experimental archaeology at the Steinzeitdorf Albersdorf. In preparation for this week, the students attended a seminar at the University of Hamburg...