Mixed Matters

Book Review: Weaving a Realm, Vietnamese clothing from around 1500 AD

Roeland Paardekooper (NL)
What a pleasure it was when this book landed on my coffee table! The book is bilingual Vietnamese – English, well designed and covers over 200 pages with hundreds of full-colour images. The book is a joint project by several Vietnamese from around the world who wished to add to the awareness of Vietnamese identities around the world. Viet Nam is so much more than what people remember of the Vietnam War...

Book Review: Road to the Vikings – Bridge between two Worlds by Linda Boye, Klaus Mejer Mynzberg and Mads Thernøe

Kirstine Friis Albrechtsen (DK)
The book Vejen til Vikingerne – broen mellem to verdener is about the Viking Bridge Project, which was run by Kroppedal Museum in Høje Taastrup, Denmark, and Vikingelandsbyen in Albertslund from 2017-2019. The book describes the project from thought to action and subsequent dissemination. The Viking Bridge Haraldsbro is now a reality and this publication is the final part of the project...

Interview: Pascal Ratier, Coordinator of the European Archaeology Days

Ligeri Papagiannaki (FR)
Europe is celebrating Archaeology, everybody is invited! Mr Pascal Ratier, who is in charge of events and colloquia for the French National Institute for Preventive Archaeological Research (INRAP), is the coordinator of the European Archaeology Days. Since his arrival at the INRAP in 2014, he has been organizing the event, at first at a national level and, since 2019, at the European scale...

Book Review: Proceedings from the ReConference 2018

Florian Messner (AT)
The ReConference 2018 took place from 2nd to 4th of November at the National Museum in Copenhagen and attracted interested people from all over the world. It was the successor to the first ReConference in 2017 in Moscow, organised by the group Ratobor, which was again involved in the organisation of the new event together with "Hands on History"...

Book Review: Experimentelle Archäologie in Europa, Jahrbuch 2020

Stefanie Ulrich (UK)
Annual Proceedings of the EXAR Tagung
***The 19th issue of the periodical includes 19 essays over 231 pages which present the contributions of the EXAR conference held in 2019. The annual report (Jahresbericht, p.225) and the instructions for authors (Autorenrichtlinien, p.229) of Experimentelle Archäologie in Europa can be found at the end...

Book Review: Steinzeitbier – Mesolithisches Brauen am Haspelsee und die Geschichte des Bierbrauens by Ulrich Bähr (ed)

Eva Götting-Martin (DE)
Did people in the Mesolithic period brew beer at Haspelmoor? How was the fermentation process started and how did they control the temperature of cooking stones? These and other questions regarding Stone Age brewing are answered in the new book published by Ulrich Bähr and a group of brewing enthusiasts from Germany...

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

For the authors see the article

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 may be produced by a master craftsperson yesterday, yet is not called authentic? Are we blinded by historical-archaeological authenticity?...

Book Review: Craft Beer Culture and Modern Medievalism: Brewing Dissent by Noëlle Phillips

Susan Verberg (US)

In Craft Beer Culture and Modern Medievalism: Brewing Dissent, Noëlle Phillips takes a critical look at the people and legends of craft beer and the ways in which medievalism and masculinity have shaped the industry of craft beer brewing. Craft beer may seem to be a rather flippant choice for an analytical scholarly study, but it is a movement deeply infused with modern assumptions...

Conference Review: The Norwegian Forum for Experimental Archaeology 2020

Susan Melleby (NO)
The Norwegian Forum of Experimental Archaeology (NFEA) 2020 was held between the 18-20th of September at Midgard Viking Centre in Horten, Vestfold and Telemark County in Norway. Midgard Viking centre, one of the museums falling under Vestfoldmuseene, has a strong emphasis on living history and collaboration with volunteer groups, using living history as a tool to create an immersive experience...

Book Review: Spaces that tell stories: Recreating Historical Environments by Donna R. Braden

Thit Birk Petersen (DK)

Spaces that tell stories: Recreating historical Environments is a textbook and a how-to manual for those setting up a new exhibition or living history site, or for those evaluating existing interpretation on a site. Everybody who works in museum education, exhibition and living history knows how fantastic it is when an historical environment engages a visitor in the topic. We also know how difficult it can be...