Concept of ‘The Świętokrzyskie Center of Experimental Archaeology’ originated as a result of the development of the project ‘Man and iron in the first centuries of our era’. Already in the year 2002 it was evident that the slag-pit furnace cluster in Nowa Słupia does not have sufficient space and infrastructure for the presentations. The conclusion was drawn on the basis of the observation of 75 presenters and a large audience on the territory of only about 1, 5 hectares. It is difficult to estimate the number of visitors in the slag-pit furnace plan area in the years 2000-2010 however rough calculations indicate that it was about 13-16 thousand yearly within the two days. The number of presenters was also increasing during the time from several people in the year 1999 to 175 in 2011. This scale of the ‘Dymarki Świetokrzyskie’ archaeological festival connected with the opening of the display center attracted over 25 thousand tourists. Despite the fact that the entertainment part of the event was then located outside the presentation area it can be assumed that the majority of the visitors arriving at the ‘Dymarki’ festival visited the Center as well. It proves a positive trend however its continuation is strongly dependent on the Center’s ongoing activity instead of a two- day mass event and the nature of this activity.
The presentation of LVDVS MAGNVS CACTI during the ‘Dymarki 2011’ archaeological festival. Photo by W. Habdas
