My interest in experimental archaeology started at the age of seventeen when I entered the re-enactment world. It was at the meeting point of both my passions for archaeology and craft. I started to get involved more directly in projects using experimental archaeology in 2013, when I joined the team of volunteers from the newly created French Archaeological Open-Air Museum, "Randa Ardesca". In parallel with my undergraduate degree in Archaeology at Aix-Marseille University, I also attended various primitive skills courses and participated in the organisation of prehistoric technic workshops for the university's Archaeology Society.
Since December 2018, I have held a Master of Science in Experimental Archaeology & Material Culture from University College Dublin. My thesis was a detailed analysis of the Clonoura shield, a fully preserved wood and leather shield, found in an Irish bog. The aim was to determine how its design and damage can inform us of its function and use. The hypotheses for the origin of the damage were challenged and refined through experimentation. Two shield replicas were made and struck with replica weapons following a precise pattern of strikes, in order to then compare the experimental damage with the original damage. Further research will aim at refining the results and trying to include the shield into a broader, European landscape, if possible.
In my free time, I craft various archaeological replicas and archaeologically inspired artefacts, both for pleasure and to understand the crafts, and for use by re-enactors.
