The EXARC Show

Lather, rinse, and repeat – an insight into early chemistry. In this month’s episode of #FinallyFriday we dive into the history of soap, debunking soap origin myths and breaking down the science of making soap. From sourcing specific wood ash to hunting down ancient recipes, our two experts explore all the factors that are needed to create a good bar of soap.

Sally Pointer is an archaeologist and freelance heritage educator with a background in museum education and teaching traditional skills. She has recently completed an MSc in Experimental Archaeology at the University of Exeter, where she is now an Honorary Associate Research Fellow. Her research interests are diverse, and she is currently working on projects that explore early textile tools and bast fibres in prehistory. She has an ongoing interest in the development of cosmetics, perfumes and soaps across time and is also working on a book project to explore the history and archaeology of soap. She regularly teaches workshops on ancient skills and traditional crafts and can often be found doing costumed interpretation and audience engagement at heritage sites. She also uses social media and YouTube to help share projects and tutorials on a wide range of topics. The origins of soap have been clouded in myth and misinformation for a long time, and a major project within her MSc and currently being prepared for publication explores the probable scenarios in which true soap was first observed in the ancient world.
Dr Sara Robb began making honey soaps and beeswax creams after leaving academic research in 2003. Formulating for nearly 20 years, Sara's recipes are available in books (Dr Sara’s Honey Potions, Beauty & the Bees, Making and Selling Cosmetics: Honeycomb Cleansing Cream) and numerous journal articles (British Beekeeping Journal, Bee Craft, BBKA News, Bees for Development Journal). Dr Robb has a keen interest in teaching others to formulate cosmetics (running workshops at the British Beekeepers Association Spring Convention and The National Honey Show) and helping small producers by providing Cosmetic Product Safety Reports. Dr Sara Robb is a VUB Certified Safety Assessor, Member of the Society for Cosmetic Scientists, & The Cosmetic, Toiletry and Perfumery Association (CTPA).

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It's getting closer to the end of the year, which means that it's time for our next episode of Mirrors and Windows. This year, founding member and current director Roeland Paardekooper chats with Matilda Siebrecht, who will be taking over the role of director in January. Together, they talk about what's happened in 2023 - from the conference in Turun to this year's EXARC award winners - and look ahead to what's coming in 2024 - such as the culmination of projects such as ReTold and TELT. They also look even further back, with Roeland sharing some of his experiences and stories from his time in EXARC (although he insists he wasn't sitting in a rocking chair by the fire during the recording!). And of course, they also look further ahead, as Matilda shares some of her plans and ideas for the future of EXARC.

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The 2023/4 EXARC Journal presents seven reviewed and eleven mixed matters articles. All the articles are open access to allow for free exchange of information and further development of our knowledge of the past.
The reviewed articles come from Europe, Canada, Australia and Syria. As usual they cover wide variety of topics. Can Experimental Archaeology Confirm Ethnographic Evidence? Presents an experimental programme used to examine how boomerangs may be used to retouch stone tools. Testing Roman Glass in the Flame explains the importance of glass properties such as viscosity, temperature working range and softening point when studying ancient techniques of glass working. How Open-air Museums Can Create Programmes for People Affected by Dementia presents special programmes for elderly people with dementia, run by the open-air museum Den Gamble By, in Denmark. “Look at The Bones!” describes an experiment testing the idea presented in the popular press that “Vikings unwittingly made their swords stronger” by using bones in the chain of production from iron ore through to finished swords. Strategy of Presenting Prehistoric Sites Like an Open-air Stand analyses the problems and challenges of preserving and at the same time attracting visitors to prehistoric sites, while engaging local communities in Syria. In Italy, in the middle of the Baroque age, the fashion for drinking chocolate rapidly spread through the courts, nobles, clergy and convents. Experimental Archaeology and the Sustainability of Dental Calculus Research introduces a project that explored the potential of a new methodological approach to investigate the history of chocolate. by combining experimental archaeology with micromorphological and chemical analysis of dental calculus. How were Half-Moons on Shells Made in the Upper Palaeolithic? Presents a study, the aim of which was to reconstruct the chaîne opératoire required to create half-moon-shaped objects from mollusc shell valva, common objects in Italian burials from the Upper Paleolithic onward.

The mixed matters section contains 11 articles, including an article on utilising experimental archaeological elements within primary education in China., six book reviews and four conference and event reports.

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We all enjoy visiting museums and other archaeological areas, but what are the implications of sustainability when maintaining and rebuilding these sites? This month we consider open-air museums and cultural heritage sites from the perspective of the Sustainable Development Goals, as Matilda chats with guests Amy Stewart and Silje Evjenth Bentsen.

Amy Stewart is the curator at the Crannog Centre Open Air Museum in Scotland. Since the unfortunate destruction of the central Crannog several years ago, Amy has become involved in planning the new build, and part of this job involves considering the implications of sustainability at the museum site.
Dr Silje Evjenth Bentsen is the project manager of “Fotefar mot nord” (“Traces towards the North”) in Norway. This project aims to promote cultural heritage as a resource for both the local community and the tourism industry, and one of the main themes of developing it further is that of sustainability.
Together, they discuss issues of social, material, and environmental sustainability when rebuilding cultural heritage sites.

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So you’ve dug up an object... but how do you know what it was used for? Microwear and use-wear analysis is a growing sub-field within archaeology looking for microscopic traces on artefacts which might give us clues on how they were used in the past – or what might have happened to them once they were abandoned. Join us on this month’s episode of #FinallyFriday for a deep dive into the world of microscopes and experimental reference collections.
Matilda Siebrecht is a professional archaeologist and journalist. Matilda has been a member of EXARC for many years, volunteering in many roles such as being one of the co-hosts on the show, helping organise conferences and events, and since the beginning of 2024, has taken over the role as EXARC’s Director. Outside of her EXARC responsibilities, Matilda is a micro-wear specialist. Whilst her Master’s research focussed on amber and ground-stone analysis, her PhD research at the University of Groningen examined use-wear on ivory and bone tools from the historic arctic populations of Canada.
Éva Halbrucker is a use-wear specialist and postdoctoral researcher at the University of Ghent. As part of her PhD, Eva used use-wear and micro-wear analysis on flint to examine the Neolithic-Mesolithic transition of north-west Belgium. Eva is now doing similar research as part of the ROAM: a Regional Outlook on Ancient Migration project, examining the lithic material from the Mesolithic in the Meuse Valley in south Belgium. Additionally, she is also part of an international research project of a Bronze Age tell settlement in Hungary as a stone tool specialist.

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