The Constructed Past: Experimental Archaeology, Education, and the Public

The Constructed Past presents group of powerful images of the past, termed in the book construction sites. At these sites, full scale, three-dimensional images of the past have been created for a variety of reasons including archaeological experimentation, tourism and education. Using various case studies, the contributors frankly discuss the aims, problems and mistakes experienced with reconstruction. They encourage the need for on-going experimentation and examine the various uses of the sites; political, economical and educational.

The idea for this book was first suggested during a weekend course held in 1992 at the Ancient Technology Centre, Cranborne, UK (see Keen, Chapter 16). The course offered those interested in ancient technology the opportunity to meet and learn from each other during a weekend of mainly practical activity and experimentation. A number of course members were school teachers—there either to develop ideas for their own teaching or for their own interest. It was an extremely successful course and everyone left hoping to return for similar events in the future. However, during general discussion it became clear that a number of participants were concerned about the proliferation of ‘reconstructed’ sites (see Introduction) and their educational and presentational philosophies and values. Much of this concern was rooted in the conscious—and perhaps subconscious— messages that participants felt were being presented by such sites.