EXARC Journal - Latest Articles

Function Follows Form: Assessing the Functionality of Shells and Greenstone Shell Effigies as Formative Period Mesoamerican Textile Fabrication Tools, Part 1: Tagelus plebeius Atlantic Stout Razor Clam Shells

Author(s)
Billie J. A. Follensbee
Publication Date
Although the importance of textiles in Mesoamerica from the Classic period (AD 250-900) onward is well-recognised, until recently little research or exploration of earlier Mesoamerican textile production has been conducted. This paucity of scholarship is attributable predominantly to the scant preservation of perishable ancient tools and textiles...

“Cuts Stones of all Sorts, In the Best Manner…”: Experiments in 18th Century lapidary work in America

Author(s)
Giovanna Fregni
Publication Date
Unusual or rare gems have been valued for as long as there have been humans to appreciate them. The making of beads and ornaments provides some of the earliest examples of the manipulation of materials solely for aesthetic reasons. Throughout history, we have refined the processes and constructed dedicated machinery to further enhance the desirable qualities of certain stones. The gems themselves...

Conference Review: Innovation begins within. Resilient museums in times of disruption, NEMO 2022

Author(s)
Roeland Paardekooper
Publication Date
The Network of European Museum Organisations (NEMO) celebrated their yearly conference in October 2022 in Loulé, Portugal. More than 200 people attended. EXARC is a member of NEMO and we decided to take a look. The format of the conference was not tedious at all, and everything was well organised. This made it easy to take in the information from the presenters...

Obituary: Anne Reichert (10 June 1935 - 8 May 2022)

Author(s)
Sabine Karg
Johanna Banck-Burgess
Renate Ebersbach
Wolfram Schier
Helmut Schlichtherle
Publication Date
Shortly before her 87th birthday Anne Reichert, well known for her archaeological reconstructions throughout Europe, died at her home in Southern Germany. From the 1980s onwards she started her career as a freelance and self-taught experimental archaeologist...

Book Review: Craft Sciences by Tina Westerlund et al (eds)

Author(s)
Duncan Berryman
Publication Date
This book sets out to bring the topics of craft science and practitioner-research to a wider audience and integrate them into current craft practices. This is a subject that has seen significant development in Scandinavia but is much less common in other parts of Europe. The essays gathered here present case studies from a range of different crafts, from woodworking and pottery to gardening and textile...

Call for information: Recycling in the Late Neolithic at the Vlaardingen site of Den Haag-Steynhof

Author(s)
Annelou van Gijn
Publication Date

The Putting life into Late Neolithic houses project looks at all the different aspects of what life could have been like for “the people in the Rhine/Meuse delta at about c. 2900 – 2500 BC.” (www.puttinglife.com). This is not only done by academic research, experiments, and material analysis, but also through illustrations produced by archaeological reconstruction illustrator Kelvin Wilson.