Conference Review: Exploring Heritage, Museums Mediating Archaeology

Abstract

The German city Xanten stands for Romans: annually, the LVR-Archaeological Park Xanten and the LVR-Roman Museum together attract over 600,000 visitors annually. Our colleagues in Xanten invited us for a conference on the use of digital media in museums. Eleven speakers from Germany, Italy, Spain, Switzerland and Austria captivated an audience of about 75 participants. Many of the presented ideas were delivered by larger museums, some of them in the phase of execution. Although these larger institutions have the chance to try out new techniques when they are fresh, the smaller museums can overcome the delay by being smart and early adapters. For example, in the Neanderthal museum, Ms Riethus is developing an inclusive game aimed at blind people. This does not have to be expensive, but with iterative game design, i.e. having several test and evaluation phases followed by implementing improvements, the game can become really successful. Also, can you imagine a digital game only using sound, as a group experience in an archaeological open-air museum? This can truly be an inclusive experience.

Keywords

• conference
• review
• newest era
• germany