Archaeological Open-Air Museum

uMgungundlovu (ZA)

Member of EXARC
No

uMgungundlovu was the capital of the Zulu kingdom during the reign of King Dingane. It was occupied from 1829 until 1838. A state of the art multimedia center has been constructed here, in the heart of the Valley of Zulu Kings. Facilities include the Mgungundlovu Reconstruction and the graves of Inkosinkulu and Piet Retief.

Umgungundlovu, situated just south of the White Umfolozi River in northern Natal offers a fascinating glimpse into the mind of this Zulu king. The process by which the royal capital of Dingane is being raised from its ashes is fascinating. A tour of Umgungundlovu will take you past completed huts, thus providing you with an opportunity to study both hut-building techniques and the social life of the Zulu. Finally, your walk will culminate at the grave of Voortrekker leader Piet Retief, whose death here was a significant and controversial chapter in the history of the country.

Town Creek Indian Mound (US)

Member of EXARC
No

A visit to Town Creek Indian Mound offers a glimpse of pre-Columbian life in Piedmont North Carolina. The visitor center contains interpretive exhibits, as well as audiovisual programs that bring alive a rich cultural heritage from the buried past. Self-guided tours of the rebuilt structures and mound and other group activities are available.

Town Creek State Historic Site has been the focus of a consistent program of archaeological research under one director for more than half a century. Research and education are both equally important at Town Creek.

Drostdy Museum (ZA)

Member of EXARC
No

The Drostdy was built by the Dutch East India Company in 1747 to serve as residence and official headquarters for the Landdrost. Soon after a gaol, a house for the secretary, a mill and various outbuildings were erected.

The first Landdrost to be appointed to this district was Johannes Theophilus Rhenius and he was assisted by a board of burger heemraden and subordinates like secretary and a gaoler as well as many slaves. From 1827 the Drostdy was occupied by the civil commissioner who, with the resident magistrate, replaced the board of Landdrost and heemraden when they were abolished by the British colonial government.

A Different Look at the Past - a Tour with Objects at the Archaeological Open-Air Museum Oerlinghausen

Sylvia Crumbach (DE)
EXARC Journal Issue 2016/3
Archaeological Open-Air Museum
Due to the inclusion program at schools in North Rhine Westphalia, the need arose to organise guided tours through the museum in such a way that visually impaired participants could be included in the experience. The idea was to offer an additional level of experiencing information through touch, by creating individual purpose-made objects...

Historical Park (BG)

Member of EXARC
Yes

In today's Bulgaria there are over 40 000 cultural and historical monuments, amongst which are significant prehistoric findings, Thracian tombs, objects from the Ancient Greek Age, Roman fortresses, monuments from the First and the Second Bulgarian Kingdom as well as other architectural landmarks from the period of the Renaissance.

In today's Bulgaria there are over 40 000 cultural and historical monuments, amongst which are significant prehistoric findings, Thracian tombs, objects from the Ancient Greek Age, Roman fortresses, monuments from the First and the Second Bulgarian Kingdom as well as other architectural landmarks from the period of the Renaissance.

LWL-Römermuseum & Römerbaustelle Aliso (DE)

Member of EXARC
No

Haltern am See, 2000 years ago: on the banks of the river Lippe one of the most important military complexes of the Romans can be found. It is the control centre of Roman power in Germania right of the river Rhine. From here, the conquest of the entire area is planned and operated.

Here one of the famous legions of historiography is stationed: the 19th Legion, which perished in the Varus Battle in 9 AD. The main camp alone was home to about 5,000 Roman soldiers - in the middle of Germania. The name of the camp: Aliso.

Whithorn (UK)

Member of EXARC
No

Whithorn is famous as the site of the earliest Christian settlement in Scotland, with evidence of Christian practice dating to the early 5th Century. However, research is increasingly turning to the context for the arrival of Christianity and the sophisticated Iron Age culture which preceded it.

Recent excavation has revealed an important settlement of roundhouses dating to approximately the mid 5th Century BC at nearby Black Loch of Myrton; the boggy site has preserved the timbers and gives some of the best evidence for Iron Age construction anywhere in Scotland.

Archaeodromo Poggibonsi (IT)

Member of EXARC
No

Manorial estates (curtes) mark the Italian rural landscapes of the Carolingian Age. They are often fortified and act as productive centers within a closed-circuit economy. In fact, they represent one of the most important category of central places of this period in Italy, managing vast portions of land and controlling the peasants.

The Archaeodrome is located within the archaeological area of the Park of Poggio Imperiale in Poggibonsi (Tuscany, Italy). It’s an open-air museum based on a full-scale reproduction of the 9th-10th century village, the center of a curtis, excavated by the archaeologists of the University of Siena. Its construction is still in progress.

Nazareth Village (IL)

Member of EXARC
No

Nazareth Village is an archaeological open-air museum that shows farm life in the Galilee like it could have been in the first century AD. The reconstruction chronology is as follows.

Phase I: Archaeology:
Beginning in 1997, Nazareth Village commissioned several archaeological excavations of agricultural installations – a wine press, watchtowers, terraces, and quarries – discovered on a hillside less than 500 meters from the original site of Nazareth. These installations were established as dating from the Early Roman Period, making the site itself an historical treasure, preserving invaluable links with the farming and building traditions of First Century Nazareth.

Talana Museum, Battlefield and Heritage Park (ZA)

Member of EXARC
No

Named after the hill at the base of which the museum is situated, "Talana" meaning "the shelf where precious items are stored" is a most appropriate name for this large and varied museum. Started in 1979 to commemorate the Anglo Zulu war, the small collection moved to the present site at the beginning of 1983.

A 20-acre section of "Dundee" farm, bought in 1982, for the development of a museum to commemorate the centenary of Dundee, included the home and farmstead of one of the founders of the town, the site of the first coal mining activity in this area and portion of the Talana battlefield. Since then the museum has expanded to include more of the original battlefield and Smith farm and now has 42 buildings.