Discussions & Thoughts

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At EXARC Conferences, but also in our Social Media, EXARC Members and other specialists discuss important themes. Several of these discussions are published here. This will help people forming an opinion and not reinventing the wheel. However, not every discussion led to a conclusion everybody agrees with...

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Discussion: Inclusivity in historical interpretation: Who has access and who is erased?

Author(s)
Andrea Mariani 1,2,3 ✉,
Sverre Christoffer Guldberg 4,
Sophie Jorgensen-Rideout 5,
Vera Bos ,
Paul Edward Montgomery Ramírez 7
Publication Date
EXARC Journal Issue 2022/2
The discussion of ‘authenticity’ in living history has been one of the main themes since the conception of contemporary historical interpretation. Our quest for authenticity should, in my opinion start with a thoughtful discussion: What goal do we want to reach through living history?...

Discussion: The Concept of Authenticity in Collections of Open-Air Museums

Reconstructed Roman artefacts at an event in AFM Oerlinghausen, Germany, 2015. Photo: Roeland Paardekooper
Author(s)
Joerie van Sister 1 ✉,
Marc van Hasselt 1,
Thit Birk Petersen 2,
Lara Comis 3,
Maura Stefani 4,
David Freeman 5,
Sverre Christoffer Guldberg 6,
Randi Stoltz 7,
Henrik Zipsane 8,
Léontine Meijer-van Mensch 9,
Martin Schmidt 10,
John Ertl 11,
Thomas Bloch Ravn 12,
Nigel Copsey 13
Publication Date
EXARC Journal Issue 2021/1

How is it possible that if you go into an arts museum, the ceramics you see may be made yesterday and may be a valued and legitimate part of the museum collection, while in open-air museums, a similar object ...

Discussion: Working with Knives in Archaeological Open-Air Museums

Author(s)
Sally Pointer 1 ✉,
Aidan O'Sullivan 2,
Lasse van den Dikkenberg 3,
Roeland Paardekooper 4,
David Freeman 5,
Renate Greiner 6,
Pascale Barnes 7,
Håkan Lindström 8,
Katy Whitaker 9,
Luke Winter 10,
Antonis Vlavogilakis 11,
Bill Schindler 12,13
Publication Date
EXARC Journal Issue 2016/2
This is an extract from a lengthy and lively Facebook discussion in the Archaeological Open Air Museums group, started on the 5th of February 2016 by Roeland Paardekooper, at that time in the...

Discussion: Experimental versus Experiential Archaeology

Author(s)
Edwin Deady 1,
E. Giovanna Fregni 2 ✉,
Alexander Stewart 3,
Tine Schenck 4,
Chris Thomas 5,
Kate Verkooijen 6,
Sonja Natus 7,
Merryn Dineley 8
Publication Date
EXARC Journal Issue 2015/1
This is an extract from a lengthy and lively Facebook discussion in the Experimental Archaeology group, illustrating the main points as it took place between 16 August 2014 and 22 August 2014. The full discussion can be found at: www.facebook.com/groups/experimentalarchaeology

Discussion: Food - Reconstruction and the Public

Author(s)
Thit Birk Petersen 1 ✉,
Aidan O’Sullivan 2,
John Majerle 3,
Gary Ball 4,
Edwin Deady 5,
Torsten Neuer 6,
Miika Vanhapiha 7,
Darell Markewitz 8,
Olaf Trollheimsfjord 9,
Vicky Shearman 10,
Del Elson 11,
Daniel Serra 12
Publication Date
EXARC Journal Issue 2013/3
For a BBC program in 1954, Sir Mortimer Wheeler tasted a reconstruction of the Tollund Man’s last supper, which turned out to be a tasteless mush. This led him to announce: "I believe that the poor chap of Tollund committed suicide because he could stand his...

Discussion: Archaeological Reconstruction in Situ

Author(s)
John H. Jameson 1,2,3,4,
Wulf Hein 5 ✉,
Hannah Simons 6,
Heather Hopkins 7,
Paul Bidwell 8,
Hans Trauner 9,
Marquardt Lund 10,
Renger Elburg 11,
Gary Ball 12,
Martin Müller 13
Publication Date
EXARC Journal Issue 2012/2

Archaeological reconstruction in situ has been a hot item over the years. Spring 2011, a conference was devoted to this, in Calafell, Catalonia. Is interpreting a site’s past only possible at that site itself? Is a site better off without reconstruction and interpretation because it only damages...