![]() ![]() The library in this repository should include the personal libraries of noted pioneers in the field as well as correspondence. Otherwise, as this generation passes, our ‘stuff’ will end up in yard sales. It should be traditional only, not inclusive of tools produced through high-tech knapping by machinery. I envision this as something like a museum that could serve as an educational facility, storage facility and a library. What the field desperately is in need of is a repository for experimental tools made and/or used for experiments and testing or even just created for art’s sake by modern craft producers. What are the most pressing issues facing the field of Experimental Archaeology? I just wanted to introduce the idea here and let someone else run with it. This is not the time for an in-depth explanation. In the United States I would suggest sites such as the Rabbitstick site, the Wintercount site, Dirkey’s Lake (Crabtree’s field school), Old Rag, Cliffside, Pamunkey, and the Schiele Museum’s aboriginal site. To get the ball rolling I would suggest European sites such as Lejre, Butser Hill, the DeHaas’ Polder site, and similar centres where projects were carried out and reports resulted. Such sites might be determined by state or nation or worldwide. Naturally, some committee would have to be formed to decide what the criteria would be for ‘important.’ This would not be just any place where a test was done, but one in which a body of research knowledge emanated so as to be shared with others in the field and/or the general public. ![]() This latter site, after some 30 years of observation, resulted in a 800-plus page report. Some sites may, though ignored now, prove to be as important in time as are excavated archaeological sites, and may indeed even be excavated themselves - as with Overton Down and the Old Rag experimental station in Virginia. Those should be identified, protected, and interpreted. I would suggest that there be a registry of certain key experimental sites. If we fail to do this, we will be just another special interest group. We cannot just stop with making and testing. We need to consistently apply our research findings back to archaeology. We possess the knowledge and know-how to prepare the world for the next disaster, such as Katrina and the wide disasters of 2011, but fail to spread the word to the general population. We, experimental archaeologists and primitive technologists, need to be more service oriented. I am also leery of the fascination with digital technology and fear it may replace and kills the grassroots philosophy of hands-on learning and instruction. We will see the death of traditional knapping if the ‘dark side’ takes over, as it almost has. We must do more to apply our knowledge to environmental understanding. The SPT must do the same or else I fear it will splinter and fall apart. I believe the field must try to embrace all types of research and researchers. Where do you see the future of Experimental Archaeology going and what do we need to do in order to ensure its success? I must also acknowledge two organizations: the Schiele Museum and the Society of Primitive Technology (SPT) along with their publication, the Bulletin of Primitive Technology for their contributions. John Coles, Peter Reynolds, Hans-Ole Hansen, Steve Watts, Kjel Knutsson, Jack Cresson, David Wescott, the DeHaas’, and Hugo Nami. ![]() Who, in your mind, do you feel contributed the most to the field of experimental archaeology? I have also been impacted by, and am thankful for my followers including my many students, my customers, my family, patrons Ray Wood and Bob Richards, Hugo Nami, Bill Schindler, Greg Nunn, Hans-Ole Hansen, Jan Apel, Mike Frank, Peter Kelterborn, and Dan Stueber. INSTITUTE, Lejre, the King of Sweden, the Schiele Museum, Bob Verry, and my customers have made my research possible. Numerous supporters and funders including Jean Auel, the C.R.A.F.T. Sollberger, the DeHaas’s, John Coles, Steve Watts, Thorbjørn Peterson, Kjel Knutsson, Jacques Pelegrin and, while not an individual, the Society of Primitive Technology. What individuals would you consider to be the most influential in your life/research/career? Who are you most thankful for having had contact with? įor sharing their philosophy, craftsmanship, and generosity, the names that first come to mind are Don Crabtree, Francois Bordes, Gene Titmus, J.B. Experimental Archaeology the Exhibition.Putting life into Late Neolithic houses.Registration Form for Individual Members.Registration Form for Institutional Members.Institutional Members Groups & Associations.Institutional Members Higher Education Centres. ![]()
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