Experimental archaeology doesn't always happen on land - sometimes it takes to the seas! In this month's episode of Finally Friday, our guest speakers discuss some of the ways that experimental archaeology can be used to explore the theme of maritime cultural heritage. 

Dr Tríona Sørensen is an experimental archaeologist currently working as a curator at the Viking Ship Museum in Roskilde. As part of her work at the museum, she is involved in the documentation and research surrounding several reconstruction projects in the museum’s boatyard. She is particularly interested in the multi-disciplinary aspects of experimental archaeology, and developing the collaboration between craft experts and archaeologists throughout all stages of an experimental archaeology project.

Dr John Cooper is a maritime archaeologist and ethnographer working at the university of Exeter. His current research focus is on boatbuilding practices in East Africa, specifically looking at the development of maritime technology and practice of communities from late antiquity to the present day. His principal research interests include vernacular boatbuilding technologies, maritime cultural landscapes, travel and navigation, and maritime heritage, which he examines through archaeological, textual, and ethnographic perspectives. 

Support the show

Pyrotechnology – the manipulation and control of fire – is one of the defining characteristics of humanity, and has impacted nearly every technology that we used in the past and study archaeologically in the present. Our guests Dragoş Gheorghiu and Femke Reidsma join us for May’s #FinallyFriday to shed light on this ubiquitous but taken-for-granted subject. 

Professor Dragoş Gheorghiu is a professor at the Bucharest National University of Arts in Romania. His research into prehistoric fire use has considered the alchemical transformations that occur at archaeological tel sites when buildings were burnt in the past, as well as the energy consumption of prehistoric kilns. His current work focuses predominantly on the proximity and the psychological aspects of fire use, particularly how it influences the senses and the links between fire and techno shamanism. Femke Reidsma is a PhD researcher at Leiden University in the Netherlands. Her research into palaeolithic fire use focuses on the effect of fire or the physical and chemical properties of bone and how these materials are altered after burial. She has developed tools to reconstruct heating conditions and fire function while taking into account the effect of preservation. Her work is predominantly lab-based using controlled experiments to investigate the influence of fire and pH from a geochemical perspective.

Join us for a lively discussion about the ways that our guests study this topic, the implications of their work to our understanding of the human past, and the ongoing role that experimental archaeology has in exploring this crucial technology. 

Support the show

Experimental archaeology helps us to understand our human past, and it’s a research approach which grows every year all over the world. But how are experimental archaeologists establishing themselves in countries where the approach hasn’t been used so often? What kinds of questions are they asking and what difficulties do they need to overcome?

This podcast features Shanti Pappu and João Carlos Moreno de Sousa, and they talk us through their work building up experimental archaeology programmes in India and Brazil. 

Support the show

“Sustainability” is a term that’s heard everywhere, and can apply to every part of our lives. But how can archaeology and heritage, which are generally involved with events and technology from the past, contribute to current climate issues? Guests Sarah Sutton and Kirsten Dzwiza share their complementary approaches in using ideas and depictions from the past to deal with present environmental issues. They also explore the importance of cross-disciplinary collaboration and the sharing of resources, the possibilities and potentials of different technologies and programs, and the future outlook for archaeology and sustainability.

Support the show

Creating digital events from scratch can seem like a daunting prospect. EXARC has navigated this process a few times thanks to the difficulties of 2020. The team of behind-the-scenes volunteers and staff sit behind the microphone to share some of their insights about the successes and pitfalls of preparing and hosting digital events. Join host Olalekan Salami as he explores what it has taken to transform EXARC conferences from in-person to digital as well as some of the many benefits of doing so. 

Support the show

Open-air museums are always looking for ways to engage the public. What is the best way to offer visitors a glimpse into the past? How can open-air museums be used to address issues of interpretation and social responsibility in the modern world? Luke Winter and Zsolt Sári discuss their views on how museums can engage with the public, providing authentic storytelling, and the social responsibility of museums and heritage centres in the modern world.

Support the show

Pottery is one the most ubiquitous artefacts we recover archaeologically and is often the backbone of chronologies for understanding past cultures, but what if there’s a bigger story that it can tell us? Caroline Jeffra and Richard Thér join us for October’s #FinallyFriday to dive deep into the archaeology of technology. In this episode of The EXARC Show, we explore the world of possibilities that studying the potter’s wheel can expose. Join us for discussions on the nature of innovation in the past and present, the cutting edge of materials research, and the ways that technology sheds light on the social worlds of past peoples. 

Support the show

Interpretation is a fundamental part of how we communicate heritage to the public, but what does the term ‘interpretation’ actually mean? Peter Inker and Angela Pfenninger join us in our next #FinallyFriday Show to explore the world of interpretation.

Dr Peter Inker is a Board Member of EXARC and has been at Colonial Williamsburg for the last 13 years, focusing much of his attention on virtual and digital heritage space. Angela Pfenninger is a live interpreter who is specialised in theatre and storytelling, and has been the chairperson of the International Museum Theatre Alliance IMTAL for the last three years.

Join us for a deep dive into the growing interplay between physical and digital interpretations, the role of emotional presentation of relationships between powerful people and marginalized people in the past, and what COVID-19 has thrown up in terms of museum interpretation strategies.

Support the show

This episode of The EXARC Show includes a great discussion about textile archaeology from Early Medieval Britain and Iron Age Slovenia with guests Alex Makin and Ronja Lau. Tune in as host Matilda Siebrecht talks to our guests about some new ways that textiles are being studied, the limitations of the archaeological record, the diversity of the world in the past, and the many ways that experimental archaeology has contributed to our understanding of the archaeology of textiles.  

Support the show

This episode of The EXARC Show features Finally Friday guests Lara Comis and Simon Wyatt for “Sounding Out the Past". We have two different perspectives on the topic of sounds this month, Lara focusing on collecting ambient sounds relating to archaeological open air museum activities and crafts, and Simon exploring musical instruments of the past. Host Matilda Siebrecht listens in as our guests discuss some of the cognitive underpinnings of how we process sound, the many ways that sounds and music play into lives in the past, and the value of pausing and listening to the world around us. Tune in for conversation interspersed with soundscapes and reconstructed musical instruments to give your ears a treat from the past! As always, Finally Friday starts with a conversation between our guests and wraps up with questions from participants in the EXARC Discord. More information on joining us for future events can be found on The EXARC Show website. 

Support the show