EXAR can already look on more than 10 years of existence: 17 members from 4 countries founded in August 2002 the “European association for the advancement of archaeology by experiment“, briefly EXAR. But already 12 years before a first conference on experimental archaeology took place.
Accompanying to the much considered, from M. Fansa of the National Museum for natural history and prehistory Oldenburg initiated exhibition „Experimental Archaeology in Germany“, archaeologists were having a conference September 1990 in Oldenburg. The archaeologists met and discussed how the questions of the archaeology could be researched with the combination of hand and head. From this group „the working group experimental archaeology“ developed, which met annually up to the establishment of EXAR to conferences. To 2002 accompanying in addition more as 10 volumes with essays to the experimental archaeology appeared as supplements of the magazine “Archäologische Mitteilungen aus Nordwestdeutschland“ published in Oldenburg. Since that time the number of the members rose to over 140 from 15 European countries. The lectures of the annual conferences are published in the magazine „Experimentelle Archäologie in Europa“.