Experimental Archaeology Conference

As regular visitors know, I rarely promote conferences (unless specifically asked) because EEF have a detailed listing in their weekly News Digest, which is much more comprehensive than anything I could pull together but this one is a bit out of the ordinary. It has nothing to do with Egytpology specifically, but has a lot to do with archaeology in general and I thought that it might be of interest to some visitors. Unfortunately, there's no URL, but there is an email address for the organizers if you require more information. The original email came with an attachment containing a registration form for proposed papers/posters- this will also presumably be available from the organizers. The original email is available at the Archaeobotany mailing list's archive for June.

THE vast and exciting potential of experimental archaeology often goes unrecognised in academic archaeology, and the University of Exeter is currently the only university in Europe which offers an MA in experimental archaeology.
Based on experience with this MA, the organisers identified some key problems, which form the basis of this conference. The idea of experimental archaeology as a mainstream methodology in academic research should be promoted, and the communication networks between practicing experimental archaeologists should be improved. By practicing experimental archaeologists we mean academics, craft specialists and others, passionate about the potentials of experimental archaeology.

Key themes:
1. Explore the scope of ‘experimental archaeology’ and distinguish between
full experiments, pilot experiments, pre-experiments, experiential activities, public demonstrations and hobby projects.
2. The role of experimental archaeology in academic research.
3. Improving ways of promoting experimental archaeology in academic research
4. Improving communication between academic experimental archaeologists and crafts people.
5. How to communicate experiments and results to the academic community
and the public.

With these themes in mind, the day will be split into three sections.
I. Theoretical issues (themes one and two above) of experimental archaeology, with an emphasis on the values of experimental archaeology as well as issues of terminology.
II. Experimental case studies which can include full experiments, pilot experiments, pre-experiments or experiential projects.
III. Round table discussion on the future of experimental archaeology, opened by a short presentation summarising the day. The discussion will focus on themes three to five, see above.

After several requests, we will now have an informal session on Sunday the 18th, including a tour of the labs and experimental land. It will also be an opportunity to chat in more detail about any issues which have arisen on the previous day (limited spaces).

The conference fee of £5 will be charged to cover the costs of tea/coffee and a copy of the programme. Please register before the 1st of October, by filling in the registration form. The deadline for abstracts is the 17th of August (for more details see registration form).
Email: exp2007@exeter.ac.uk

We are looking into possibilities of publishing the papers from this conference. In the evening we would like to go for a drink, before an organised dinner at a local restaurant for the speakers. We hope this will be a stimulating day, and are looking forward to receiving your abstracts.

Penny Cunningham, Roeland Paardekooper, Julia Wiecken
Email: exp2007@exeter.ac.uk