Professional paper
Living history and the communication of archaeology with the public
Mislav Fileš
orcid.org/0000-0003-1361-1364
; Institute of Archaeology, Zagreb, Croatia
Deniver Vukelić
orcid.org/0000-0003-0004-4129
; Red Čuvara grada Zageba, Zagreb, Croatia
Abstract
Living history encompasses a wide range of attempts at presenting the facts, objects, persons, and events from history. It is a pre-planned, historically researched, and appropriately equipped educational and touristic activity in which the participants follow a strict plan that brings some aspects of a historical event or period to life. Living history as a phenomenon has been recorded since antiquity: re-enactment of previous Roman naval battles was common in amphitheatres or lakes of the Roman Republic and Empire. In the Middle Ages, the living history techniques were used for spreading Christian religious narratives, while in the early modern period, the high nobility continued organizing tournaments of the Late Middle Ages and naumachiae. Living history is one of the crucial factors of attracting the audience to events and archaeological parks across Europe. Besides the popularization of archaeology as a science, it offers an almost unique form of help with conducting archaeological experiments. We can trace evermore living history events in Croatia since the early 2000s, performed and organized by scientific and educational institutions, but also by citizen associations, in significantly increasing numbers.
Keywords
historical re-enactment; experimental archaeology; guided interpretation; living history museum; museum theatre
Hrčak ID:
269914
URI
Publication date:
31.12.2021.
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