Living in a Wetland Landscape: The Late Neolithic Vlaardingen Culture Revisited - Leiden, the Netherlands.

The fourteenth edition of the experimental archaeology conference (EAC14) was held from May 12-16th 2025 in the city of Curitiba, Brazil, co-hosted by the Federal University of Paraná (UFPR). This was EXARC’s first EAC event to be held outside of Europe, and one of the first dedicated conferences on experimental archaeology to be held in Brazil.

This year between September 1-3 2024, EXARC held a conference specifically focused on the topic of Digitalisation in Open-Air Museums and the cultural sector. Co-organised by the Batavialand Museum in Lelystad (the Netherlands), the event brought together the RETOLD partners and several professionals from around the world. RETOLD is a four-year project coordinated by EXARC and supported by the European Commission that aims to develop a documentation system designed for archaeological and ethnographic open-air museums. 

The EAC 13 hybrid conference in Toruń (1–3 May 2023) marked a milestone as EXARC’s first fully hybrid event. Bringing together in-person and international online participants, the conference showcased a wide range of experimental archaeology research and made all presentations openly accessible via EXARC’s YouTube channel, extending its impact far beyond the event itself.

The EAC12 Conference was an “around the world in 80 experiments” taking place in March 2021. It started in Australia, turning towards Asia, Africa, Europe, North and South America as the time proceeds, and that for 4 days. #EAC12 had online lectures as well as presentations by local hotspots in different time zones (in total 167). With the lectures and hotspots, #EAC12 shows the diversity of experimental archaeology and the geographic spread. All the presentations are available on the EXARC's Youtube channel, a few authors also published with the EXARC Journal.

The 11th Experimental Archaeology Conference (EAC11) was this year held in Trento, Italy, organized by EXARC and the University of Trento. Over 190 participants gathered together hailing from more than 25 countries, and for the first time the conference ran parallel sessions. The conference spanned three days, with the first two devoted to keynotes, papers, and posters. The final day was reserved for optional excursions which showcased significant archaeological highlights on offer in the region. In many of the sessions, questions were reserved for the end, which sparked lively discussion. As has been the case in other recent EAC meetings, poster authors were given the chance to present their work during the regular sessions accompanied by a few slides, and their inclusion in the overall discussion sessions was an excellent addition.

In recent years, experimental archaeology has increased in popularity among academics and students alike due, in no small part, to pioneering universities such as Exeter, University College of London, Leiden and University College of Dublin. The examination and analysis of the past through reconstruction of lifestyle, chaîne opératoire of manufacture and the efficacy of produced materials is not new. Archaeological experiential sites, such as Britain’s Butser Farm, which was set up in 1970 by the Council for British Archaeology to test theories on how Iron Age peoples lived, have added greatly to understanding and reconstructing the past. As such, experimental archaeology has built on these pioneering foundations and developed into a staunchly academic discipline, invaluable for gaining knowledge of the past, and an unsurpassed means to engage with the public.

The ninth Experimental Archaeology Conference was held over 16-18 January 2015 at University College Dublin (Ireland). A large gathering of nearly 200 delegates from more than 25 countries across the EU and the Americas was hosted by UCD School of Archaeology and the Irish National Heritage Park. Twenty papers and 26 posters were presented, while Professor William Schindler gave the keynote address.

The conference unofficially began in the Royal Blenheim pub at 6 pm on Thursday evening. Conference staff and attendees filtered in throughout the evening eventually filling the back room. The pub had excellent food and a good variety of local ales. Those who managed to brave the flooding introduced themselves and got to know other attendees. It was a nice way to start the conference since I did not know many of the others. Hearing about others’ research whetted my appetite for the upcoming presentations.

The 7^th International Experimental Archaeology Conference (held in 2013) was hosted jointly by the School of History, Archaeology and Religion at Cardiff University and St Fagan’s Open-Air Museum (UK). The conference consisted of two days of presentations, as well as a poster session at the end of the first day.

Established in 2006 with a workshop at UCL London, the Experimental Archaeology Conference is an annual event aiming to bring together experimental practitioners from Europe and afield. Since 2006 it has been held at a variety of locations in England and Scotland, with twelve to fifteen papers presented each year over two days, in addition to demonstrations and posters.

2011 began with the 5th Experimental Archaeology Conference in the UK, held at the University of Reading on the 8-9 of January. A variety of papers were given over the two days, several of which focused on taphonomic processes. A series of workshops were also held the afternoon of second day, allowing participants to develop discussions and learn more about the mechanical and recording aspects of flintknapping experiments, mircomorphology, plant related experiments and metallurgy.

Date: November 14 & 15, 2009

Venue: Organised by the University of Aberdeen (UK)

Content: 9 papers

Date: November 15 & 16, 2008

Venue: Organised by the University of Edinburgh & the Scottish Crannog Centre (UK)

Content: 13 lectures, 60 participants

A number of the papers presented at the 2nd Experimental Archaeology Conference were collected into an edited volume and published in 2008. This volume contains papers presented at the conference by Mary Ellen Crothers, Carolyn Forrest, Cordula Hansen, Susanna Harris and Heather Hopkins. It is complimented by additional papers by Elizabeth C. Blake and Ian Cross, Elizabeth Cory-Lopez and Eva Fairnell. This volume is available directly from the publisher, Oxbow.

The first Experimental Archaeology Conference was hosted at University College London.