Beyond School - Workshops in Experimental Archaeology at the Museum (Romania)

• Main Author: Vasile Diaconu
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: EXARC 2018-05-01
• Series: EXARC Journal
• Subjects: education; children; experience; tools; grinding; corn; ceramics; flint knapping; palaeolithic; mesolithic; neolithic; chalcolithic; bronze age; iron age; romania
• Online Access: https://exarc.net/ark:/88735/10338

Experimental archaeology, as an educational means, has become a particularly useful practice in museum institutions in Romania, although there is no tradition in this field. Here, we present activities of the History and Ethnography Museum in Târgu Neamţ, where several experimental archaeology workshops were organised for pupils aged between 9 and 12 years. Participants were introduced to the prehistoric technologies of processing stone, producing ceramic vessels, and processing wood and bone. The schoolchildren made various tools, household objects and decorations by carving and polishing, they moulded small clay pots, and they processed cereals using ancient methods. The workshops were held in 2016 and 2017 during which 100 students, divided into several groups, attended the practical activities. Some of the objects made by students were later used in educational activities in the schools.