Heritage Interpretation: Shapes and Forms
Guest
Caroline Nicolay (UK)
Summary
In this episode of the EXARC Show, host Jess Shaw discusses heritage interpretation with Caroline Nicolay from Pario Gallico. What does the term cover? What forms can it take? How accurate should it be? What is the role of buildings and why are they important? Caroline addresses the challenges for open-air museums to find and hire the right type of living historians for their particular events or activities. She notes that students of classics and archaeology face hurdles getting hired for these types of jobs. Why is that and what can be done to better match ‘supply and demand’ in the heritage sector? Caroline shares her ideas on all these issues based on her broad and varied career as a professional living historian who, along the way, developed a keen interest and specialisation in ancient building techniques. This conversation was recorded on November 2nd 2025.
Guest info
Caroline is a professional living historian or heritage interpreter with a special interest in ancient building techniques. Her company, Pario Gallico, offers living history displays, ancient crafts demonstrations and courses based on ancient techniques, all from the Iron Age to the Tudor era / 1600's.
Links
Pario Gallico
Earth Building UK and Ireland
Earlier episode of the EXARC Show on ancient building techniques: Mud Matters
Presentation on YT: All you need is Mud - How Open-Air Museums can Champion Sustainability in the Built Environment
Presentation on YT: Mud Huts or Eco-houses? When archaeology meets sustainable architecture