The Nowa Słupia Centre for Experimental Archaeology and Its Project on Man and Iron in the First Centuries AD: An Opportunity for the Development of Archaeo-Tourism in the Kielce Region. In 1967 experimentation on ancient iron metallurgy...
moreThe Nowa Słupia Centre for Experimental Archaeology and Its Project on Man and Iron in the First Centuries AD: An Opportunity for the Development of Archaeo-Tourism in the Kielce Region.
In 1967 experimentation on ancient iron metallurgy in the Świętokrzyskie Mountains transformed into a public event called Dymarki Świętokrzyskie which has gained considerable popularity (Bielenin 1992, 214-215). Initially the event’s scenarios were not in compliance even with the historical facts available at the time for the Roman Period. However, for the past 2 decades research on the iron bloomery area has been conducted by a team of local archaeologists under the auspices of Professor Kazimierz Bielenin assisted by metallurgists from the AGH University of Science and Technology (see Bielenin 2002, 2006). A local history society for the protection of the area’s industrial heritage has been set up and is known as the Świętokrzyskie Stowarzyszenie Dziedzictwa Przemysłowego
(ŚSDP – visithttp://korzenie.gimnazjum.com.pl/ssdp.html).
Since 1999 ŚSDP has been organising a presentation known as Człowiek i Żelazo w pierwszych wiekach naszej ery (Man and Iron in the First Centuries AD) during the public event. The local gmina authority, which has been the chief organiser of the Dymarki event since 1998, has expressed its support by financing the building of facilities for Dymarki from its own resources and EU funds. These facilities have been set up largely on the basis of a concept designed by ŚSDP members and are in operation as the Centrum-Archeologiczno-Kulturowe (Archaeological and Cultural Centre) at Nowa Słupia. Despite the many years over which the educational project has been evolving within the framework of Dymarki, it is still hard to formulate a comprehensive definition of its objectives, as it combines the characteristics of an archaeological festival with features typical of entertainment and leisure activities.
The determination of what should be the right proportions between the project’s diverse components, to a large extent quite independent of each other, is the main concern in this article. The issue deserves serious discussion in view of the fact that an educational precinct has been established on the premises of the new open-air archaeological exhibition, where 10 residential and ancillary buildings have been reconstructed on the basis of data obtained from several Przeworsk Culture sites throughout Poland. The area designated for educational purposes encompasses a Roman Fort, which is surrounded on two sides by reconstructions of fortifications of the type associated with the Roman limes and with a watchtower which also serves as a viewing point. The full cost of the infrastructure project for the Nowa Słupia Archaeological and Cultural Centre, which also included an administrative and services building, sanitary facilities and an amphitheatre, amounted to 4 million
70 thousand PLN, including 3 million 199 PLN eligible costs. The EU grant covered 60% of the expenses. The Centre was completed within a year, from the July of 2010 to the end of July 2011. The new Centre was officially opened during the Dymarki festival in August 2011 and was accompanied by a series of presentations of everyday life and craftsmanship in the Roman Period and a variety of contacts between the Roman Provinces and the Barbaricum, coordinated by ŚSDP members. 175 presenters from many countries, scientific and research centres, and cultural institutions and associations took part. One of the exhibits was a comparative presentation of bloomery iron-smelting technologies from Lower Silesia, Mazovia, and the Świętokrzyskie Mountains, on the basis of archaeological evidence. The local gmina authority of Nowa Słupia and the Rudki branch of the local cultural centre organised two rock music concerts performed by the Polish groups Lady Pank and Wilki, which were held for local fans during the Dymarki festival on the slopes of Łysa Góra Mountain (not on the premises of the Archaeological and Cultural Centre). The Dymarki festival was accompanied by a traditional folk art and commercial street fair, and the entire event attracted a record attendance by over 25 thousand
visitors in two days.
The success achieved in 2011 as regards attendance rates has had no effect on the formulation of how the Archaeological and Cultural Centre is to be utilised by the local authority. We have put forward the postulate to make the best possible use of the goodwill both the local powiat and voivodeship territorial authorities have shown to the Dymarka festival, which now has the opportunity to become a regional showcase thanks to its new facilities. At the same time the withdrawal of, or at least a distinct limit on those components which are not connected with the promotion of science and cultural heritage would be a welcome development. The image-creating potential the Dymarki festival has for the promotion of the Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship calls for the surmounting of the obstacles in the way we have become accustomed to see this event, which apart from its annual materialisation in August should have activities continuing throughout the year in its new Centre. The Dymarki festival is one of the factors which have made the ancient ironworks of the Świętokrzyskie Mountains an important contributor to the promotion of the Kielce region. The local authority needs to be more aware that its responsibility for the archaeological legacy requires a mature approach to the creation of the right conditions for the dissemination of the authentic facts on that legacy. The establishment of the new open-air archaeological exhibition and the encouraging results of the 2010 Dymarki festival have created a chance to turn the
enterprise into an enduring success if the Centre is designated to accommodate the Man and Iron in the First Centuries AD Project. Another development in the right direction would be the amalgamation of the operations of the open-air exhibition
and the Nowa Słupia Museum of Ancient Metallurgy, which would allow for the setting up of facilities to continue interdisciplinary studies on one of the most interesting phenomena in the region’s archaeology – as Professor Bielenin
has postulated (2006, 27).
