The EXARC Show (Archive)

Some Ancient Technologies last until the present day and Weir Fishing is one of them. Fascinated by the dimensions of an archaeological find of a fishing weir, photographer and filmmaker Frank Wiersema decided to make a film about this phenomenon. Frank chats with host Noah Melton about the multi-pronged approach he took to making the film. Challenges he encountered ranged from the complexity of replicating a fishing weir as a museum display in Swifterkamp open-air museum, to considerations regarding the type of actors to cast and diversity and inclusion in the reenactment community in general. 

This conversation was recorded on June 24th. The film has been released in the meantime.

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Films set in prehistory are few and far between and often by no means based on scientific insights. In this episode of the EXARC Show our new host Noah Melton chats with filmmaker Maarten Peels about what he deems essential for a truthful depiction of life in the upper Paleolithic. In Maarten's short film De Poten van de Bizon (The Bison’s Legs), released in 2024, he introduces his characters as human beings interested in music and art rather than hunting and violence. Maarten recounts the many aspects that informed the process of making this film. He also lifts the veil on a new movie he is working on which, again, aims to portray the connection between people and nature during the prehistoric era in a more profound way.

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In the second episode of EXARC Extracts in 2026, Matilda Siebrecht talks you through the content of EXARC Journal 2026/2.

This issue includes six reviewed articles and seven mixed matters articles. All the articles are open access to allow for free exchange of information and further development of our knowledge of the past.

Go to the issue

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What if a once shared territory can foster a sense of belonging today and thus help to heal problems of the present? Geza Frank, our guest in this episode of the EXARC Show, certainly thinks it can. This conviction lies at the heart of his upcoming project to circumnavigate the frontiers of the entire Roman Empire in historic outfit and equipment and by historic means of transport. Host Phoebe Baker talks with Geza, aka Gaius Flavius Constantinus Aeneas Stilicho, about his plans and how he expects a renewed focus on the Roman empire, by creating the largest UNESCO World Heritage site ever, can benefit people who live within the Limes, its former borders. From his unique perspective as a former soldier in a modern army, he also shares some salient insights into what, in his view, truthful reenaction of a Roman entails (and what not).

Geza’s Instagram

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In this episode of the EXARC Show, host Jess Shaw discusses heritage interpretation with Caroline Nicolay from Pario Gallico. What does the term cover? What forms can it take? How accurate should it be? What is the role of buildings and why are they important? 

Caroline addresses the challenges for open-air museums to find and hire the right type of living historians for their particular events or activities. She notes that students of classics and archaeology face hurdles getting hired for these types of jobs. Why is that and what can be done to better match ‘supply and demand’ in the heritage sector? 

Caroline shares her ideas on all these issues based on her broad and varied career as a professional living historian who, along the way, developed a keen interest and specialisation in ancient building techniques. This conversation was recorded on November 2nd 2025.

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In this first episode of EXARC Extracts in 2026, Matilda Siebrecht talks you through the content of EXARC Journal 2026/1.

This issue includes four reviewed articles and six mixed matters articles. All the articles are open access to allow for free exchange of information and further development of our knowledge of the past. 

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Have you ever wondered what a drastic change in your diet could do to your system? In the summer of 2025 Ilse Donker ate only wild foraged food for three months. She did this in the context of the Wildbiome Project. This project, set up by Monica Wilde in the UK, investigates the effects on the gut microbiome of eating exclusively foraged food for an extended period. 

The official results of the project are still being processed, but in this conversation with host Jess Shaw Ilse gives us a fascinating insight into the effects the experiment had on her sense of wellbeing. 

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In this episode of EXARC Extracts, Matilda Siebrecht reads through the articles in issue 2025/3, the third and last episode of the EXARC Journal in 2025, sharing her insights and reactions to the surprising range of research shared within.

This year's third issue of the EXARC Journal includes eight reviewed articles and three mixed matters articles. As always, the articles cover a very wide range of topics. All the articles are open access to allow for free exchange of information and further development of our knowledge of the past. 

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In this episode of the EXARC Show host Phoebe Baker chats with Markus Klek about his exciting - and sometime scary - hike up to the location where Ötzi the Iceman was found in 1991. The hike required a good deal of strenuous climbing and brought challenges Markus had not encountered before. It was another opportunity to test his equipment and to gain more understanding of what it means to be trekking in a mountainous environment in Stone Age gear.

Markus is an independent researcher focusing on indigenous and prehistoric skin processing technologies, as well as related work in bone, antler and ivory tools. He has published three books on leather and leather-related technologies and has run a successful business centering on prehistoric leather working, Paläotechnik, since 1996. 

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In this episode of EXARC Extracts, Matilda Siebrecht reads through the articles in issue 2025/2 of the EXARC Journal, sharing her insights and reactions to the amazing range of research shared within.

This year's second issue of the EXARC Journal includes ten reviewed articles and three mixed matters articles. As always, the articles cover a very wide range of topics. All the articles are open access to allow for free exchange of information and further development of our knowledge of the past. 

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