DARC at ICMS?

Have you been doing Experimental Archaeology?

DARC (the Dark Ages Re-creation Company) is hosting a session at (the International Congress for Medieval Studies ) Kalamazoo in May where we are looking to have people speak about their recent experimental archaeological work.

Expect some details forthcoming over on the DARC blog

If you are interested in speaking please reach out to me - I'm happy to talk over what is involved, the expectations and so on.

Session Chair / Organizer is Neil Peterson (e-mail)


modified from an original posting by Neil

Refining the Bloom - 2013 ICMS demonstration (image by Michigan Live )

As many readers are likely aware, both Neil and I have been presenting papers related to applied experimental archaeology at the International Congress for Medieval Studies at Kalamazoo for the last several years. This has included several (well received) physical demonstrations, themselves a further departure from the typical ICMS focus on manuscripts. This will be the second year that DARC has directly sponsored an individual session.

DARC is calling on serious independent researchers to present their ongoing work as part of the session : 

Archaeology & Experiment: Moving beyond the artifacts
Session Type: Papers
Archaeological sessions tend to focus on presentation of results from
excavations or preliminary analysis. Experimental archaeology moves
beyond the artifacts, allowing researchers to examine the underlying
question of "how" related to artifact finds. Ideally, experiments can
provide a preliminary answer to the question "Does this theory of how it
was done actually work". A keystone of experimental archaeology (and a
differentiator from reenactment/recreation) is that it follows the
scientific method of question, setup, and result - whether that result
is positive or negative. Presentations in this session will be expected
to review all three key elements in the discussion of their paper.
Papers submitted for these sessions would be good candidates for
publication in the EXARC Journal.

• Although DARC itself is focused on the Viking Age, presentations into any experimental archaeology project centred on roughly 450 - 1650 AD, ideally within Europe, is welcome.

• Remember that you need not actually write / submit a document. (Although DARC would love to have some, and these could easily be published on the 'Articles' part of the DARC web site.)  

• Many Re-enactors who are enguaged in serious long term experimental archaeology research happen to also have extensive experience communicating before the public! Often years of careful background study and practical trials remains hidden, despite the massive effort it often entails. Our individual strengths are as *presenters* and in the past Neil and I have found our presentations well attended and received - based on our long experience working a crowd.

• Individual presentations are limited to roughly 20 minutes (with time for introductions and follow up questions). Ideally one session would include three presentations.

• The submission deadline is September 30.

I can imagine the travel distance and related costs might pose more of a limitation to participation for many reading this (Kalamazoo is in mid Michigan, west of Detroit). As DARC is at best a loose collective of individuals, I'm afraid there is no institutional support for expenses that can be offered to participants.