Like many things in the modern world, digitalisation has transformed the way we interact with the past and opened opportunities for visualisation, curation and sharing. But how do we actually use these digital tools? How do we use them to engage the public? And how do we ensure our digital data is a fair representation of the past?

Henk Alkemade was originally trained as a physical geographer but went into a career in IT following his studies. In 2007, he joined the Dutch National Heritage Agency as an IT manager. This gave him this opportunity to become involved in Europeana projects such as CARARE and LoCloud, which helped reignite a passion in cultural heritage. Henke now works full time in Cultural Heritage, connecting this heritage with IT through his work as a senior specialist in historical landscapes.

Elin Tinuviel Torbergsen currently works for the Museum Nord as a curator for the West Lofoten Department. In addition to this, she is also working on her PhD in media and communication. In these roles, she is attempting to identify digital solutions connecting the archaeological objects on display in the museums with their original places of discovery, and their wider cultural landscapes. Part of this work includes creating digital AR simulations of the world in the past.

In this episode we dive into their respective projects, compare the different types of methods they use and discuss how digitalisation will continue to change heritage in the future.

If you’d like to hear more from our speakers after the episode, they will both be presenting their research at our Digitalisation in Open-Air Museums and Reconstructions conference at the Museum Batavialand in September, we’d love to see you there!

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The 2024/2 EXARC Journal brings you eight reviewed and five mixed matter articles. All the articles are open access to allow for free exchange of information and further development of our knowledge of the past.

The reviewed articles come from far and wide. The majority of the articles come from Europe with two from the United States. Luc Bordes’ article is dedicated to the evolution of throwing sticks. The article by Alexander Whitehead, Anthony Sinclair and Christopher Scott talks about the use of experimental archaeology in research of the pathogenic properties of bifacial butchery tools during the Middle Pleistocene. Marie-Elise Porqueddu, Nuria Castaneda Clemente and Javier Baena Preysler investigate the technical gestures used in mining flint. ‘Hay is for horses’ by Rena Maguire and Robert Johnson tests the hypothesis that post-Iron Age bridles in Ireland could have been made of straw and rushes. Those are only four of the eight articles. The others are dedicated to classification of archaeological open-air museums, Roman baking, Roman metalworking and Etruscan weaving.

The mixed matters section contains an obituary for Andy Kurzweil, the adventures and experiences of three Romanian archaeology students in archaeological open-air museums in the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. There is a book review of Experimental Archaeology: Reconstruction of Material Heritage of Lithuania II. Finally there are two articles documenting the RETOLD project.

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In this month's episode of #FinallyFriday, we're discussing how experimental archaeology projects can help in developing well-being!

Megan Russell is a PhD student leading the Experimental Health Project. After working in commercial archaeology, Megan saw the potential of experimental archaeology being used as a tool to increase mental health. She is exploring how other aspects of archaeology such as craft can contribute to mental health as a more accessible option.

Dr Hayden Scott Pratt is curator at the Hengistbury Head Visitor Centre. He is currently running the ‘Living in the Round’ experimental archaeology Wellbeing project, which aims to bring together local people through the medium of community-focused, experimental archaeology.

Between them, the guests present their experiences running different experimental archaeology projects that explore issues related to mental health. They deal with questions of what actually is "well-being"? How can we create more longevity for projects dealing with well-being? What impact does physical setting have on the project? Tune in to find out the answers, and discover some great examples of the positive societal impact of experimental archaeology.

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