DARC to LAM - July 2012

The Dark Ages Re-Creation Company
will be returning to
L'Anse aux Meadows NHSC!
July 19 - 27, 2012

The Wareham Forge is pleased to announce that it has an agreement with Parks Canada to mount a living history presentation, with interpreters provided by DARC.

At this point the exact interpretive program has not been established. The specific physical demonstrations will depend largely on what additional members of DARC chose to enlarge the core team.
What you can certainly expect to see:

Green Woodworking - including a spring pole lathe
(Grimmi roughing out, Thorgir on the lathe)

Weaving on the Warp Weighted Loom
(Ka∂lin preparing the warp)

Small Textiles - Spinning, Naelbinding, Tablet Weaving
(Jorin working in the sunshine.)

Domestic Tasks, including food preparation
(Kadja - 'A woman's work is never done - especially when she is a slave.')

Trade and Gaming
(Ragnar - ' Would you buy a used longship from this man?')

Some Other Guy who also seems to talk a LOT.
(Kettil ponders a question)
Daily Life in the Viking Age
(Snorri looking on)

All the images above by P. Halasz - taken during the August 2010 presenation

(late) Medieval Images of Blacksmiths

Those interested in historic trades, re-enacting are likely to find this of interest. I got to this via a link from a link posted by someone on Facebook.
From a fast Google search:

Das Hausbuch der Mendelschen Zwolfbruderstiftung zu Nurnberg,1965 German craftsmen from 15c & 16c, two vols 275 pages of plates 150pp G+ (E30-40)

The on line version has searchable terms in English - by Occupation / Tools / Materials

The index is cut up a bit different that you might think. Blacksmithing is broken down into specializations (Bladesmith / Armourer / Smith /...) so some hunting might prove fruitful.

Under 'Blacksmith' There these images which are of interest:

Dated 1425

Dated 1450
Dated 1504
Dated 1595

Disreguard (or not) the obvious link in all with farrier's work.
Do Note:
- the bellows set up and type
- design of the forges
- size and shape of the anvils
- profile of the hammers

Revising the Web Site

- As long time readers / followers of the Wareham Forge well know, the web site has undergone many changes since its inception in the 1990's.

The original site was heavily text based. Those with long memories will remember that initially the internet was solely text, my involvement goes back to the days when the primary interactions were through bulletin boards (!) As producing content for the internet got ever easier, and transmission speeds have vastly increased, the internet has become dominated by images. Video has now become an increasingly larger segment of how information (in its widest sense) is being communicated.

For good or ill, I have added much to those few original sheets of information that composed the Wareham Forge web site. Rightly or wrongly, as I creep into the second half of my 50's, I find myself writing more, and yes, working at the forge less. (Although I like to think the quality of the work has also greatly improved!) Through this all, I have rarely *removed* anything from the web site. There is also the addition of two large theme sections, the Norse Encampment and Experimental Iron Smelting. Although enclosed in the Wareham Forge domain, either of these are significantly self contained and large sections in their own right.

The result is that currently, the total volume of content of the Wareham Forge site is some 220 megabites. There are over 100 separate 'sheets' and well over 1000 images.

Through it all, I have attempted to hold to a couple of primary concepts:
1) To keep the transmission rates for viewers fast, so as to better accommodate rural users (no high speed).
2) Design for those using *older* computer systems (and smaller screen sizes) - and purposefully avoiding 'the latest thing'.
3) To have a balance between interesting and valuable text and illustrating with images.
4) Avoid using anything that annoys me personally when I see it on other web sites.
5) Design the site so it reflects my own personality and taste (You don't like the site, you likely will not like me - and maybe I'm not the one you should be working with on that project.)

Now, one of the results of so much content is that the site has become almost impossible to navigate.

I'm in the process of re-evaluating the overall design of the whole site. To my mind, there are four primary tasks here :
- evaluating the actual content available
- gathering & converting images, writing commentaries
- determining the graphic layout
- physically producing the code and installing the web site

I have been aided in the most recent design changes by some people on Facebook, who have provided comments and advice as I worked up a potential layout. The new front index sheet (installed just this morning) is what I have come up with:


This represents the 'above the fold view, at roughly 1000 x 800 (13 x 8 inches for us old people).
- One big change from previously is the colour shift to a light faded with black text (from the previous high graphic dark with light print).
- If you look in your own browser, you will see the two top images are random selections of mainly close up v- views of forge work.
- The side bar now features pull out navigation points.
- Scrolling down, the 'Visual Guide' offers most of the same navigation points, but now via thumbnails.
- I've cut away much of the detailed descriptions to specific sub sections that used to be on the front page.

My next task is to learn (via Neil, thank you!) how to work this framework via PHP.
Then finish processing the images and writing commentary for the 'new' work (last two years!)
Then re-sort the content, splitting off the best work into a portfolio section, and older work into separate areas (for each type).
Then design the graphic backgrounds for the various sub sections
Then apply the new PHP method to all that .

At least it keeps me close to the stove this winter...

Comments extremely welcome!

EXARC journal article!

Issue 2012/1

© EXARC, 2012; ISSN: 2212-8956; Publishing date: January 15, 2012

Before you stands our first online issue of the EXARC Journal. It is divided in three sections. There are two peer-reviewed sections covering ARCHAEOLOGICAL OPEN-AIR MUSEUM and EXPERIMENTAL ARCHAEOLOGY which are available to EXARC Members only. The third section is open to all and is called MIXED MATTERS.

If you would like to see the full scope of our most recent articles, please Become EXARC Member so you can see our most recent articles, such as: Presenting Medieval Gambling and Pub Life or What’s in an experiment? Roman fish sauce: an experiment in Archaeology...

My submission is one of the articles available only to members:

"But if you don't get any IRON..." Towards an effective method for small iron smelting furnaces

Darrell Markewitz (CA)

Few ancient processes are as mysterious as smelting ore into metallic iron. Just how, exactly, is this done? The exact processes used by the ancients are unknown, but modern experiments can suggest some possibilities...

The article gives a simple outline of how to build and operate a short shaft direct bloomery furnace. Photographs by Neil Peterson and Paul Halasz (above) illustrate some of the DARC Iron Smelt Team in our past work, especially at L'Anse aux Meadows NHSC in 2010.

One of the articles from this issue that is open to the internet public is by Neil Peterson,' 50th Anniversay of L'Anse aux Meadows' an overview of that entire presentation.