The media talking about us

Whether it’s in the press, on television, on the radio, or in the internet, discover a few highlights of ArkeoTopia, an alternative approach to archaeology® into the media.
Translation by Manon Decoën and Jean-Olivier Gransard-Desmond

Juliette Desmonceaux, “Comment les Playmobil font découvrir l’archéologie aux enfants”, 20 Minutes, June 14, 2019.
“According to the archaeologist and researcher, children’s passion for this scientific activity is also linked to their imagination and love of fantasy tales. “There is often a mythological dimension to archaeology that appeals to children. Just like with Playmobils, they like to tell and hear stories”, he says.

For the 2020 edition of the national event “The Night of Reading” (La Nuit de la Lecture), organized by the Ministry of Culture, ArkeoTopia, an alternative approach to archaeology, collaborated with the Conservatoire communautaire Gabriel Fauré, from Saint-Arnoult, Yvelines, to organize a meeting for the audience, actors, and technicians of Fairies vs Facts: from reading to theater fictorial, on the 18th of January 2020. You can find council member Patrice Canal’s report in Le Bulletin Vivre à Longvilliers about this unique cinematographic experience (in French only).

A great experience for these young people, among which some already knew the book, such as Maëlys, who had loved its “original writing and the presence of real elements”.
Patrice Canal

For the À l’Eure du livre convention organized by Hélène Blanc on the October 5, 2019, journalist Olivier Bohin from Écho Républicain interviewed Christiane Angibous-Esnault, and asked her about the adventures of Augustin and his friends.

With her books combining adventure and archaeology, Christiane Angibous-Esnault has managed to captivate children. She is one of the highlights of À l’Eure du livre, octobre 5, 2019.
Olivier Bohin

Dive into the archaeological universe with Augustin’s World in Issue 302 of La Classe (October 2019), a magazine for elementary school teachers, as well as a video introduction of other ArkeoTopia editions on « Edutainment Resources about Archaeology by ArkeoTopia » (Des ressources pédagogiques sur l’archéologie).

On the Rochefort-en-Yvelines city website, in February 2019, review of ArkeoTopia actions:

With this peculiar film, and while promoting reading, ArkeoTopia wants to shine a light on the scientific method through archaeology. Everyone will be able to enjoy this short film destined to be put on the internet, with a free licence, and teachers or other education professionals will be able to use it for free.
Irène Ivancic

On her review blog entitled Histoire d’en Lire: Historical Fiction for Young People, in February 2019, Isabelle Durand wrote about:

My Archaeology Book for Ages 5-8

About My Archaeology Book (5-8 year-olds), she writes:
Thanks to its light tone and characters Alex and Lisa, readers quickly become actors themselves, putting themselves in the shoes of an archaeologist. They get to make amazing discoveries! Nothing better than that for sparking a desire to discover things for yourself, to delve deeper into research through other suited resources (documentary books, albums on the same subject) to learn more about history.
Isabelle Durand

My Archaeology Book for Ages 8 and up:

It is a unique, well-made book, by specialists of the subject. It is fun, interesting, and awakens children’s curiosity about this valuable occupation.
Isabelle Durand

Gilles Mainvis, «The book fair has found its audience“, (Le salon a trouvé son public) L’Éclair n°128, Octobre 2018, p.13.

Many families came to stock up on books to keep them warm during the fall. Elodie and Elisa, two 10-year-old sisters, will share Panique au Château, Le secret de la carte postale, Tina and Jeanne de Mortepaille.
Gilles Mainvis

Antony Reiss, The Quest of the Adventure (La quête de l’Aventure), Entre Terre et Mer program on the TV channel Calédonia, 2018.

Program dedicated to “Mission Aventure”, presenting the work of the associations Fortune de Mer Calédoniennes and ArkeoTopia, which specialize in archaeological excavations and set out to explore the wreck of the Aventure and its surroundings. The Entre Terre et Mer team followed them to better understand their methods and the history of this shipwreck.

Charlie Réné, “Des objets, des pistes et des histoires pour retracer le naufrage de l’Aventure“, Les Nouvelles Calédoniennes, August 4, 2018, p.9.

TV Report, Caroline Antic-Martin et Claude Lindor, Les secrets de l’Aventure de 1855 dévoilés aux Kuniés, La 1ère channel, News broadcat, August 3, 2018.

Charlie Réné « À terre, en mer, et dans les mémoires : sur les traces du naufrage de l’Aventure », Les Nouvelles Calédoniennes, July 13, 2018, p. 12.

Gilles Mainvis, “L’archéologie révélée aux enfants à l’occasion du Salon du Livre“, L’Éclair 126, Culture section, July-August 2018, p. 14.

A book filled with suspense, friendship, and educational value thanks to a vocabulary hunt and the opportunity to separate fact from fiction in the three stories, thanks to the last pages of the book. A book for ages 8 and up.

Karine Payen, “L’épave de l’Aventure bientôt explorée au nord de Kunié“, Les Nouvelles Calédoniennes, May 26, 2018,, p. 21.

S. C., “Claire Combettes: vulgariser l’archéologie“, Le Ploërmelais, February 13, 2017.

To achieve her goal, the Finistère-native will be able to count on the support of the Parisian association ArkeoTopia, which will take charge of developing the project in Brittany. “This is a great opportunity for me. I don’t have to worry about buying premises for example, or other problems of setting up a business. Without their support, I certainly wouldn’t have started this adventure on my own,” she admits frankly.
S. C.

“Retour sur la remise des prix Wiki Loves Monuments”, Social Good Week, December 6, 2016.

This year, the awards ceremony also has a special flavor. In his opening speech, Jury President Jean-Olivier Gransard-Desmond, archaeologist and president of the ArkeoTopia association, announced that this sixth edition of the Wiki Loves Monuments competition may be the last. The reason? The law of July 7, 2016, on freedom of creation, architecture, and cultural heritage: “a serious blow to French cultural heritage and France’s participation in the Wiki Loves Monuments contest.”
Social Good Week reporter – image from Thesupermat CC BY-SA 4.0

Guillemette Faure, “J’y étais: Au pays des Wikis“, M, le magazine du Monde, August 27, 2016 — about the French WikiConvention of 2016:

“What I’m interested in is women in archaeology, says an archaeologist, Jeanne Dieulafoy. She has her own page because she received a Légion d’honneur, but all the others…” That is the problem with collaborative encyclopedias: Wikipedia reflects the world of those who write it. But only 20% of contributors are women
Guillemette Faure

Naly Gérard, “Ces associations éprises de nos bastides“,La Vie, September 15, 2016, p.75:

This exchange is relatively rare, as professional researchers do not take enough interest in the work of non-professionals, as says Jean-Olivier Gransard-Desmond, independent archaeologist and president of the ArkeoTopia association (www.arkeotopia.org), which brings together “pros” and “non-pros.” “This collaboration should be a pillar of heritage protection,” he argues. “We should follow the example of Great Britain and its community archaeology, where volunteers and professional archaeologists are in constant communication. If professionals were the only ones involved in heritage protection, it would spell the death of archaeology…”
Naly Gérard

“Cahier d’activités“, Arkéo 236, January, 2016, p. 2.

“Ouvrage jeune public : Mon cahier d’archéologie“,  CNRS Hebdo Rhône Auvergne, rubrique À découvrir, October 29, 2015.