Staff exchange from Archeon (NL) to Foteviken (SE)
Dates and program
26-06-201412:00 – 01:00 Car ride to Foteviken
27-06-20148:30 – 10:00 Tour of the park and introduction to its staff.
10:00 – 20:00 We assisted in the day to day activities, we motivated and involved the audience.
28-06-201408:30 – 20:00 We assisted in the day to day activities, we motivated and involved the audience.
29-06-201408:30 – 20:00 We assisted in the day to day activities, we motivated and involved the audience. We got a tour of the local surroundings and spent the day whit other people on staff exchange from Poland.
30-06-2014Car ride home.
Introduction
Goals
-To observe and analyze different methods used to engage the dialogue with the visitor, both during special events and during ‘regular’ days.
-To observe and analyze the way such an event is organized and executed.
-To observe and analyze the way the archaeological heritage is presented to the public and how issues regarding authenticity, reconstruction and different chronologies are resolved.
-To compare these methods and discuss them, so as to distinguish the differences between the way both partners converse with the visitors. By comparing the different ways of conversing with an audience and contextualizing them both partners aim to learn from one another and possibly implement elements of each others approaches into their own.
-To communicate said observations to other OpenArch partners and members for educational purposes.
Exchanged staff
Ayla van EekelenHistorian. Tour guide in the medieval part of Archeon. Sometimes involved in setting up events and activities for Archeon.
Jelle PeterseArtist and graphic designer. Tour guide in the medieval and prehistoric (iron age) part of Archeon. Very involved whit setting up events and activities as volunteer at a local boy-scouts division. And sometimes for Archeon.
Susannah Dijkstra,Currently studying linguistics at the University of Amsterdam. Tour guide in the Roman part of Archeonsince 2013. Also has a lot of interest in other historical eras.
Activity
The Archeon employees will put on an informative, interactive, fun show. If deemed necessary, interpreters will assist them in talking to the audience. Members from the audience will be involved in the activities presented by the museum and some of the games we brought whit us.
Report
26-06-2014 Thursday
We traveled all day by car, arrived at one a clock midnight and went to sleep in the cottage provided by the museum.
27-06-2014 Friday
After meeting king Björn we entered the park got a full tour and observed the administration and organization of the Viking market. During the day we assisted in the day to day activities, we motivated and involved the audience.
28-06-2014 Saturday
During the day we assisted in the day to day activities, we motivated and involved the audience. We participated in a traditional Viking water race, witnessed a burial ceremony for everyone that was lost that year and went to a Viking party that night. At the party we had a lot of fun introducing and playing some of the games we brought whit us.
29-06-2014 Sunday
During the day we assisted in the day to day activities, we motivated and involved the audience.
07-07-2014 Monday
We traveled all day by car.
General observations during stay
Accommodation
Living and staying in Foteviken
For some visitors one day in Foteviken isn’t enough.
But for many visiting Vikings one day in Foteviken is way too short.
So there are different ways to stay in Foteviken.
Staying in Fotevikens holiday village
When you want to stay in Foteviken, but you’re no real Viking, you have to stay outside the Viking town in the holiday village. The holiday village of Foteviken is situated next to the Viking town, only ten meters from the coastal line. There are different ways to stay in the village.
First of all, you can stay in your own modern plastic tent, campervan or mobile home. There is a special camping site situated next to Foteviken Viking Museum and directly adjacent to the sea.
When you’re not the camping type, or you don’t have your own tent/mobile home, you can rent a cottage by the sea!. There are 13 cottages. The 4-bed cottages can be rented year-round by private persons but also by companies and associations alike. Every cottage includes kitchenette with a micro, refrigerator with small freezer, a WC and shower. Electricity is included. Every cottage has got its own porch with furniture and an outdoor grill.
Staying in the Viking town
A real Viking doesn’t want to stay in a mobile home or an modern cottage. A real Viking wants to stay in al real Viking tent, or a real Viking house. That’s why King Björn allows visiting Vikings to stay inside the Viking town. Visiting Vikings are always cordially welcome, but they have to follow the Foteviken rules.
They can live in their own Viking tent, but it is also possible to borrow a Viking tent from Foteviken. In that case you have to make a reservation in advance.
It’s also possible to stay and live in a Viking house. But this type of dwelling can only be offered under special circumstances, because the Viking houses are primarily used by the house owners themselves or by the members of Foteviken.
More information about staying in Foteviken or the holiday village:
Setting up the viking market
There was a Viking market in Foteviken on the weekend of our visit. Vikings from all over europe presented their work and craftsmanship and sold their wares in the historical setting of Foteviken. But in order to be allowed to sell their wares they had to play by the rules, rules designed and enforced by King Björn himself.
From the very second a Viking decides to be part of the market till the actual moment of setting up his tent, everything is monitored and guided.
First, the Vikings register online on a specially designed website, the site generates a database as vikings enter their personal information. They state the following facts: the number of people in their party and their names, how many cars they bring and their number plate, if they have a plastic or historically correct tent, global information about the products they will be selling and the duration of their stay.
Second, a map is made by the staff of Foteviken, they arrange tents on their popularity, craftsmanship, size and the duration of their stay. This requires a knowledge of the sellers and their products. In past viking markets king Björn gathered this information by making his rounds and some friendly small talk.
Third, as the Vikings arrive they need to report at the office where two computers have been set up. This way you know how many of the people have arrived and they receive some information and products. They receive;
- A copy of the rules, this way they can be held accountable for their actions,
- A parking permit for their car with their registration number on it so you can look up their phone number in case of emergency or nuisance.
- A card for their plastic tent (if they bring any) again with their registration number on it. They need to attach this to their tent when it is on the “plastic” tent site.
- A map of the park so they know where to set up shop.
- A breakfast dinner -and of course they are Vikings- a beer coupon.
There is also a list in the registration office stating the games and events that will take place during the weekend. The Vikings are encouraged and somewhat expected to help and take place in these events.
Finally, King Björn does his morning round hours before opening the market where he checks the historical context and correctness. If people obey the rules and has a friendly face-to-face chat with the shopkeepers he even does some shopping for his own park. Doing this on foot makes him easy to talk to and approach. King Björn is always friendly but very strict, the don't call him the king for nothing.
Volunteers in Foteviken
King Björn is always in need of enthusiastic interns and volunteers to populate his Viking town.
Everyone who’s interested in Vikings and the Viking age and who would like to live and work in a historic setting is more than welcome in Foteviken.
The volunteers will help to populate the town and bring to life the daily life of a Viking town to the visitors of the museum. Not only to the general public, but also to the visiting school classes.
As a volunteer you can live in one of the Viking houses, but you can also lease some land. In Foteviken there are several pieces of land leased by Vikings. They can do pretty much everything they want on their land when it’s according to the rules of Foteviken. Some of the Vikings set up their tents and they just spend their time living the ordinary life. Others build some kilns on their land so they can forge their own tools. There also was a piece of land transformed in to fields to grow vegetables on. The volunteers are allowed to spend the night on their own piece of land. So some of them stay in Foteviken every weekend.
The land leasing creates a win-win situation. King Björn doesn’t have to take care of the leased pieces of land and the Viking volunteers are really happy taking care of their own piece of land. So everybody’s happy!
As mentioned before, it is also possible for volunteers to live in de houses of Foteviken. This means that, for example, when you live in the carpenter’s house you become the carpenter. So you truly live a carpenters life when you’re in the town. In every house in Foteviken lives a Viking, or sometimes a whole Viking family.
That there are people living in the houses brings many advantages for Foteviken itself. The interior of the houses is more realistic. It’s cleaner inside the houses because you want to eat and sleep in a clean house. And when something in your house is broken, you can fix it immediately.
This is noticed by the visitors. They feel the difference between a house and a home.
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