Mixed Matters

Book Review: The Archaeology of Time Travel. Experiencing the Past in the 21st Century, edited by Bodil Petersson and Cornelius Holtorf

Silje Evjenth Bentsen (ZA)
EXARC Journal Issue 2018/1
Mixed Matters
Archaeological time travel, or experiencing the past through re-enactment, virtual reality, popular culture or other means, is presented from multiple perspectives in The Archaeology of Time Travel. Experiencing the Past in the 21st Century, edited by Bodil Petersson and Cornelius Holtorf. The book is freely available in pdf format at http://www.archaeopress.com

Conference Review: Norwegian Forum for Experimental Archaeology 2017

Črtomir Lorenčič (SE)
EXARC Journal Issue 2018/1
Mixed Matters
The Norwegian Forum for Experimental Archaeology (NFEA) is a yearly seminar aimed at presenting and popularising experimental research within archaeology. It has been held since 2011 at the Veien Cultural Hertage Park, and as the name implies, it is a gathering of Norwegian archaeologists, held and presented in Norwegian. In 2017, things were done a bit differently...

Book Review: Proceedings of the 25th Meeting of Archaeologists from Germany, the Czech Republic and Austria

Miroslav Popelka (CZ)
EXARC Journal Issue 2018/1
Mixed Matters
On the 17th – 20th June 2015 40 participants of the 25th Archaeological working group East Bavaria/ West and south Bohemia/ Upper Austria, were hosted by the Upper Palatinate town Bärnau which lies on the border with the Czech Republic. The meeting took place in the conference hall of the Historic Park Bärnau-Tachov, a remarkable archaeological open-air museum which demonstrates...

Shifting the Sand: Replicating Black Powder Grenades

Stephen Lacey (US)
EXARC Journal Issue 2018/1
Mixed Matters
Black powder hand grenades are ubiquitous for several European archaeological sites between 1600 AD and 1900 AD. Unfortunately, many archaeological reports only note the presence of hand grenades in artifact inventories, perhaps denoting some minor measurements. Only one report contains a full assessment of grenades, but this was performed by treasure hunters who excavated the pirate ship Whydah...

Book Review: Experimentelle Archäologie in Europa, Bilanz 2013

Katharina Roth (DE)
EXARC Journal Issue 2018/1
Mixed Matters
Annual Proceedings of the EXAR Tagung
***Experimentelle Archäologie in Europa. Bilanz 2013 published by Gunter Schöbel and the European Association of Archaeology by Experiment e.V. is the product of the experimental archaeology conference AEAS/GAES, held between the 4th - 7th October 2012, Switzerland...

An Insight into the Baltic Experimental Archaeology Summer School 2017

Artūrs Tomsons (LV)
EXARC Journal Issue 2018/1
Mixed Matters
The Baltic Experimental Archaeology Summer School (BEASS) took place from July 17th to 23rd 2017 in Lucavsala, Riga, Latvia. For the first time it was organised outside Āraiši Archaeological museum park, because of the change of its status from a branch of the National History Museum back to the department of Amata local municipality near Cēsis...

Book Review: Flinthandwerk by Wulf Hein and Marquardt Lund

Philipp Schraut (IT)
EXARC Journal Issue 2018/1
Mixed Matters
The book “Flinthandwerk” is a co-production of two known German experts in experimental archaeology. Both authors have been studying prehistoric techniques for years; Lund has spent his whole lifetime practicing flint-knapping skills during his free time, whilst Hein is the founder of a company that specializes in the reproduction of Stone Age artifacts for museums...

Book Review: Playing with the Time. Experimental Archaeology and the Study of the Past by Rodrigo Alonso, David Canales, Javier Baena (Eds.)

Rena Maguire (UK)
EXARC Journal Issue 2018/1
Mixed Matters
Increasingly, there is an appreciation of using experimental work to reconstruct how people squared up to the challenges of what life was like in the past. It is a field of archaeology which has caught the public imagination, so this collection of conference papers, Playing with the Time, edited by Alonso, Canale and Baena, has considerable potential to reach a wider market than just academics...

Event Review: Dark Ages Recreation Company at L’Anse aux Meadows, NHSC 2017

N. Peterson,
K. Davidson,
M. Burnham and
K. Burnham (CA)
EXARC Journal Issue 2017/4
Mixed Matters

Lying at the extreme northern tip of Newfoundland, L'Anse aux Meadows represents the only widely accepted Viking-Era presence in North America.  Archaeological remains of seven buildings were found at the site, along with a few minor artefacts including a ring-headed pin, glass bead, and drop-spindle whorl.  Evidence of on-site work was also found in the form of iron slag, discarded ship rivets, and axe-hewn wood chips.  Four of the seven buildings were reconstructed by Parks Canada.  Since 1997, these have been staffed by costumed interpreters who blend first- and third