This article was accepted into the corpus but its outbound wikilinks were never NER-processed — typical at the deepest BFS hop or when the run's entity cap was reached. No expansion funnel to show.
| Experimental Archaeology Society | |
|---|---|
| Name | Experimental Archaeology Society |
| Type | Non-profit |
Experimental Archaeology Society is a voluntary organization dedicated to the practice, development, and dissemination of experimental methods in archaeology. It brings together practitioners, scholars, craftspeople, curators, conservators, and heritage managers to test hypotheses through replication, fieldwork, and material studies. The Society emphasizes collaborative projects that link field experiments, laboratory analyses, and public engagement across regional and international contexts.
The Society grew from mid-20th-century interests in hands-on reconstruction associated with figures and institutions such as Glyn Daniel, Julian Richards, Christopher Hawkes, Alexander Keiller, Morton Wheeler and Gerald Hawkins, and built on experimental traditions at places like Butser Ancient Farm, Flag Fen, Jorvik Viking Centre, Skansen, and Living History Farms. Early formative influences included experimental programs at British Museum, Ashmolean Museum, National Museum of Denmark, and research at universities such as University of Cambridge, University of Oxford, University College London, University of York, and University of Edinburgh. The Society formalized cooperative networks that connected practitioners from projects like Pompeii Archaeological Park, Çatalhöyük Research Project, Gordion Archaeological Project, Çatalhöyük, Khirokitia excavations, and Hacilar excavations, while engaging with methodological debates influenced by scholars at University of Chicago, University of Michigan, University of California, Berkeley, and University of Leiden.
The Society’s core mission traces methodological lineage to experimental work conducted at venues such as Stonehenge Riverside Project, Avebury Research Group, Wroxeter Museum, and Hislop Research Station, and echoes pedagogical approaches from ICOMOS, ICOM, ICOMOS-ICORP, and English Heritage. Activities include organized experimental campaigns, replication workshops, long-term archaeological open-air laboratories modeled on sites like West Stow Anglo-Saxon Village, Tollund Man displays, Old Oswestry Hillfort, and Skara Brae reconstructions. It supports comparative studies that draw on analytical facilities at institutions such as Natural History Museum, London, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Smithsonian Institution, Royal Ontario Museum, and Musée de l'Homme.
Membership comprises practitioners associated with institutions including Society of Antiquaries of London, Prehistoric Society, European Association of Archaeologists, Royal Archaeological Institute, Association for Environmental Archaeology, and World Archaeological Congress. Organizational governance follows models used by British Association for Biological Anthropology and Osteoarchaeology, Council for British Archaeology, Heritage Lottery Fund, and regional bodies like Historic England and Cadw. Leadership roles often coordinate with academics at University of Glasgow, University of Southampton, University of Leicester, University of Birmingham, and University of Manchester.
The Society sponsors and collaborates on projects ranging from lithic replication to metallurgy, textiles, ceramics, and architecture, often alongside projects like Iberian Copper Age experimental projects, Theoretical Archaeology Group, Rates of Decay taphonomy studies, and reconstructions at Eyam Heritage Centre, Petersfield Heath, Castro de Vila Nova de São Pedro, and Castel di Tusa excavations. Notable experimental themes engage with reproductions of artefacts similar to finds from Lascaux, Altamira, Clovis culture, Solutrean sites, Magdalenian culture, Natufian sites, Pre-Columbian Andean sites, Jomon period sites, Maya archaeological sites, Angkor Wat conservation programs, and Mohenjo-daro conservation efforts. Collaborations extend to practical trials mirroring work at Hrafnkels saga reenactments, Vikingskipet reconstructions, Norse settlement experimental farms, Iberian Iron Age fort reconstructions, and Roman villas reconstructions.
The Society produces bulletins, monographs, and peer-reviewed articles disseminated through channels similar to Antiquity (journal), Journal of Archaeological Science, World Archaeology, Journal of Field Archaeology, Oxford Journal of Archaeology, Cambridge Archaeological Journal, Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society, and publications associated with Routledge, Cambridge University Press, and Oxford University Press. Communications include conference proceedings for meetings comparable to European Association of Archaeologists Annual Meeting, Society for American Archaeology Annual Meeting, Theoretical Archaeology Group conference, and workshops paralleling programs at British Science Festival and Cheltenham Science Festival.
Training programs mirror curricula and practical courses offered by museums and centres such as Butser Ancient Farm, Weald and Downland Living Museum, Museum of London Docklands, York Archaeological Trust, National Maritime Museum, and university continuing-education programs at Institute of Archaeology, UCL, School of Oriental and African Studies, Institute of Archaeology, University of Oxford. Outreach projects target public venues and festivals including National Trust sites, English Heritage sites, Historic Environment Scotland properties, Festival of Archaeology, European Heritage Days, and community events organized with partners like Local History Societies, County Archaeological Units, and City Councils.
The Society partners with conservation bodies, laboratories, and funders such as Historic England, Cadw, National Lottery Heritage Fund, European Research Council, Arts and Humanities Research Council, Leverhulme Trust, Wellcome Trust, and international entities like UNESCO, UNDP, and European Commission cultural programs. Its work has been recognized through awards and collaborations similar to grants from Gerda Henkel Stiftung, Getty Foundation, Wolfson Foundation, Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions, and inclusion in exhibitions at British Museum, National Museum of Scotland, Musée du quai Branly, and Rijksmuseum.
Category:Archaeological organizations