EXARC Journal - Latest Articles

Irish Copper Axe-Ingots Recovered in Brittany: Experimental Casting to Recreate Porous Material

Aurélien Burlot (IE)
The present study discusses the casting of copper axe-ingots in open, wet sand moulds, in an attempt to recreate porous artefacts that have been recovered in Brittany, France. The original axe-ingots are considered to be Irish copper metalwork from the Early Bonze Age. However, these artefacts are not finished objects and are poorly cast. This nevertheless appears to be deliberate because...

A Shared Warp: The Woven Belts of the Lao Han People, China

Celia Elliott-Minty (UK)

The renowned weaver Peter Collingwood briefly mentioned such belts in his book The Techniques of Tablet Weaving (Collingwood, 1982, pp.219-220). Not long before he died in 2008, he contributed a couple of pages on these belts to the book Minority Textile Techniques: Costumes from South-West China (Collingwood, 2007, pp.28-29). 

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...