archaeological open-air museum

This is an extract from a lengthy and lively Facebook discussion in the Archaeological Open Air Museums group, started on the 5th of February 2016 by Roeland Paardekooper, at that time in the Archäologisches Freilichtmuseum Oerlinghausen...

It is the year 1350 in Gravendam (the medieval town of the archaeological open-air museum, (AOAM) Archeon, in the Netherlands). Master Roelof, a wood-and-bone processor, lies unconscious on the stone floor. Shortly before this, he had been climbing the ladder to the attic to grab a log of wood, but it slipped from under him and he ended on the floor...

MAMUZ is the new name that combines the Lower Austrian museum of prehistory Niederösterreich Asparn/Zaya and the museum centre Museumszentrum Mistelbach to create a centre of experiences and knowledge covering 40,000 years of the history of the human race. Using the example of its archaeological open-air site, the museum of prehistory MAMUZ aims to...

This article is a summary of a presentation held at the conference in Mistelbach in 2015, “Archaeological Reconstructions and Tourism”. The conference topic leads us to a more consistent approach to reconstructions and tourism. All who work in the heritage sector know that all types of museums have a great influence on the tourism sector...

For many archaeological open-air museums (AOAMs), volunteers are an essential and highly visible component of an effective institution. Volunteers bring museums to life with meaningful interpretive contacts, and offer institutions the opportunity to broaden their mission and complete tasks that may not otherwise be possible...

Experimental archaeology in its various manifestations is a transnational historical practice that, for almost one and a half centuries, has managed to fascinate both academic practitioners and laypeople. Although it has many ideological connections – ranging from anti-modernism, nationalism, the life-reform movement, racism, National Socialism...

The book “Archaeology and Crafts” is a transcript of the proceedings of the VI OpenArch-Conference held in Albersdorf, Germany, on the 23-27 September 2013. The conference was an activity of the OpenArch project –a cooperation of Archaeological Open-Air Museums across Europe of which the AOZA...

As the manager of the Ancient Technology Centre (ATC) in Dorset, England, like many of you, I consider regularly what it is that we actually do. What services do we provide? How are we regarded by the public, by the education sector, by the children we teach, and by those who pay to come through our doors.

The purpose of Universal Design is to increase people’s opportunities to participate in society through the design of products, services, methods of communication, buildings and built-up spaces that are accessible to as many as possible. Many will suffer from some form of disability at some time in life, either temporarily or long-term...

OpenArch Special Digest 2015 Issue 2
***This article summarises the main issues that were faced in running a group of reconstructed Iron Age roundhouses as an educational and visitor resource at St Fagans National History Museum from 1992 until 2013. Plans to build a new Iron Age farmstead at St Fagans are then outlined along with the steps...