The city Kalisz derives its name from a mention by Ptolemy in the 2nd century AD of the ancient Kalisii. It is known as one of the oldest Polish cities. It is believed that the first Polish rulers, the Piast dynasty had their cradle.
After decades of excavations, under coordination of PhDr. Ivana Pleinerová, CS from the Archaeological Institute of the Academy of Sciences, Prague first on site experiments took place in 1981. Dwellings were constructed modelled after examples from the Neolithic, the Early Middle Ages, and the Slavonic period. There was also a pottery kiln and storage pit. The Prague Institute of Archaeology used this area as a training school for experimental archaeology
In a large nature area, in the middle of Jutland, an ethnographic open air museum is situated, Hjerl Hedes Frilandsmuseum. Their purpose is to have, maintain, develop and communicate its collection of things and knowledge about building style, the history of the village, the crafts and the cultural landscape.
One can find here among others a reconstructed 10th century stone church, and a Stone Age settlement. The medieval church is a copy with elements from original churches. The prehistoric houses are based on information from findings and interpretation of findings on other locations.
Avaldsnes is called the Norway’s oldest throne because King Harald Fairhair made this place his royal residence after he had unified Norway ca 870 AD. Avaldsnes continued to be a royal residence for almost 500 years. Ever since the Bronze Age, Avaldsnes was a centre of power for chieftains and kings that controlled the shipping traffic that was forced to sail through the narrow strait Karmsund along Nordvegen (North Way), the shipping route that gave Norway its name.
Before WWII, Kaliningrad was the capital of Prussia and was referred to as Königsberg. In 1909, at the initiative of the provincial Conservator of Historical Monuments Richard Dethlefsen an open air museum was founded in the North-Eastern part of the Königsberger Zoo in Hufen just outside the city centre. Dethlefsen, born in Danish speaking Southern Jutland had taken the Scandinavian Skansen museums as example. One of the new things was, among others, to have copies built by craftspeople still being able to build ‘the old way’ instead of using original buildings.
Located in the suburb of St Fagans to the North West of Cardiff, the museum was created in 1946 in the grounds of St Fagans Castle at an area of 100 hectares. Besides dozens of ethnographic (original) buildings, moved to the site, the museum has a reconstructed manor house in Elizabethan style and three Iron Age like roundhouses.
The M3 Archeopark is a combination of a folk museum, a 5 hectare large leisure-time park and archaeological open air museum. It opened 2007 next to the motorway M3, 40 kilometres from Debrecen, direction Polgár and parts of the presentation are about the finds which came to light during constructing the motorway.
The presentations are mainly about the folk culture of the surrounding region and much is about the recent past, shown in pavilions and recreated historical buildings.
EXARC is the international organisation of Archaeological Open Air Museums and other facilities involved in Experimental Archaeology. It is their aim to establish a high standard of both scientific research and public presentation. The idea of international exchange of knowledge, human resources, publications and facsimiles is to improve the quality of work
for all associated members.
EXARC is established in 2001 and Roeland Paardekooper is one of the three founding members and at present runs the secretariat.