Dear list,
sorry for the cross-posting...
This year's EXAR (European association for the advancement of archaeology by experiment) conference will be held from the 2nd-5th of October 2014, in cooperation with the
Römisch-Germanischen Zentralmuseum Mainz and the Laboratory for
Experimental Archaeology in Mayen, Germany. The general topic of the conference is ‘Experimental archaeology in science and education 2014’.
The registration form can be found here: http://www.exar.org/voorbeeld-pagina/1218-2/
...in light of the recent discussions of the interpretation of the chemical and mineralogical studies of iron smelting slags, several of the authors mentioned the importance of the "human factor" in the success or failure of a smelt and the use of well-designed field experiments to test theoretical reconstrucions that were based on archaeological and natural scientific investigations. I can only wholeheartedly agree with this statement! It is equally as important that the field experiments are continuously repeated so that the people ( archaeologists, craftsmen or interested layperson) can gain enough experience in the technology that they are trying to duplicate, and that the process and products of the experiment are also sufficiently documented and published. Unfortunatly many of these experiments remain undocumented and unpublished, and the wealth of information collected from these trials never reaches the audience that needs them most. Conferences, such as the one listed above, can provide a platform for the exchange of ideas between the scientist and scholars who have access to the archaeological material and the craftsmen/practitioners who have the practical know-how. So, please, take those old experiments out of the drawer and present your results!
Sincerely
Erica Hanning
