the Vikings Return!

Step back in time with the Haffenreffer Museum to experience daily life
in the Dark Ages! The Haffenreffer is attached to Brown University and
is located in Bristol Rode Island (just east of Providence).

http://www.brown.edu/Facilities/Haffenreffer/vikings/vikings.html

Sat & Sun, Sep 16 & 17,
11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The Haffenreffer Museum of Anthropology invites you to spend a weekend
exploring the Viking World! The Dark Ages Re-creation Company from
Ontario, Canada, brings the Viking Age to life on the grounds of the
museum while top scholars share their knowledge of the Viking world.
Enjoy public lectures, re-enactments, combat demonstrations, Iceland
animals, artisan displays, and hands-on activities for the whole family.

Saturday Lecture by Darrell Markewitz - the Dark Ages Re-creation Company

Adventures in Iron Smelting

Wrought iron was a fundamental raw material to the Norse, who used
it to make everything from ship's rivets to swords. The exact methods
used in the Viking Age to change bog ore into useful metal are unknown
however. Since 2000, members of DARC have been involved in a series of
experimental iron smelts. The results are a blend of archaeology,
metallurgy, practical experience - and wild-ass guesses. Join us for an
overview of successes and failures, and what may have been discovered
about the Viking Age

Intro Bio:

Darrell traces his interest in Living History, metalwork, and the Viking
Age back to his student days at Ontario College of Art in the late
1970's. After college, he worked as a historic interpreter at Black
Creek Village in Toronto, eventually becoming the artisan blacksmith
there. His personal studies into the artifacts and culture of the Norse
continued, leading to the 'Norse Encampment series of living history
programs in the 1990's. This included creation of the interpretive
program at L'Anse aux Meadows National Historic Site of Canada for Parks
Canada, the only presentation of its kind in North America. Other
significant museum work has included consulting on the Smithsonian's
'Vikings - North Atlantic Saga' and the Newfoundland Museum's 'Full
Circle - First Contact. He created the stand alone exhibit 'The World of
the Norse' for the Cranbrooke Institute of Science. He has delivered a
number of published papers related to historic interpretation methods
and experimental iron smelting.

Darrell was instrumental in the formation of the Dark Ages Re-creation
Company, a group of dedicated amateur historic interpreters who
specialize in daily life in the Viking Age. The Company was started in
2000 to work on events surrounding the Viking Millennium, and has
undertaken presentations in conjunction with a number of major traveling
exhibits.

One of the signature features of the Norse outpost at L'Anse aux Meadows
was the first processing of iron ore into metal in North America.
Darrell was part of a special team assembled by Parks Canada in 2001 to
investigate the archaeology. This sparked his direct involvement in a
continuing series of experimental iron smelts, eighteen to date. Darrell
and the DARC smelt team are slowly working towards an understanding of
the practical methods used by Norse iron masters 1000 years ago.