Sometimes you receive an award from a panel of experts. And sometimes you receive an award that may carry even greater weight—because it’s decided by the public.

In 2024, the DAGFARI.net project won the People’s Choice Award in the Golden Mammoth competition—the Karel Absolon Award for the Popularization of Archaeology. What makes this category unique is that the winner is not chosen by a jury, but by the public. Every vote represents a person who was so intrigued by our work that they decided to support us.

We owe a huge thank you for each and every one of these votes.

Looking back, this isn’t an award for a single article, a single video, or even a single project. It is a recognition of more than twenty-five years of our lives dedicated to history, experimental archaeology, and early medieval reenactment.

During that time, the Midgard historical society was founded, the Battle of Rogar began to be held, we started giving lectures at schools, appearing on television shows, and collaborating with museums and archaeological open-air museums, thousands of days spent in historical costume, countless conversations with event attendees, and dozens of articles and videos, all with a single goal—to show that archaeology and history aren’t confined within museum walls, but can be vibrant, understandable, and accessible to everyone.

It was precisely this idea that gave rise to the DAGFARI.net project.

It’s not just an online store or a blog. It’s David Tůma—known as Dagfari from the very beginning—who fosters connections among people fascinated by the Early Middle Ages. He creates opportunities to find high-quality information, inspiration, archaeological news, historical replicas, and guides for beginner reenactors. Whether through articles, videos, social media, or in-person meetings at events, he always strives to bring the past to life in a way that both complete novices and experienced enthusiasts can understand.

After all, popularizing archaeology isn’t just about conveying facts.

It’s primarily about sparking curiosity.

When a child holds a replica flint for the first time and I teach them how to start a fire. When a visitor at a historical event asks if fur cloaks were worn over the shoulders, and you can discuss it together based on experience, not just theory. When someone sews their first piece of historical clothing thanks to an article or begins to wonder why certain objects were made in a particular way. It is in these moments that popularization truly works.

Over the past few years, we’ve had the opportunity to visit dozens of significant archaeological sites across Europe, collaborate with museums, open-air archaeological museums, and artisans, present experimental archaeology at public events, and demonstrate that historical reconstruction can be based on a thorough study of sources and archaeological finds.

But none of this would make sense without the people who follow our work.

When voting for the Golden Mammoth People’s Choice Award was announced, we asked for your support. You shared our posts, cast your votes, and cheered us on. Thanks to you, we were able to win an award that is perhaps the most valuable one to us.

Because it isn’t just ours.

It belongs to everyone who reads our articles, watches our videos, attends a lecture, stops by our booth at a historical event, discusses archaeology, or tries to do a reenactment a little more authentically than last year.

The Golden Mammoth is a joy for us, but also a commitment for the future.

Monika Baráková, Lucie Bejčková, David Tůma, and Tomáš Vlasatý at a lecture by Nadi Profantová and Ludmila Barčáková

We’ll keep searching for new archaeological discoveries, visiting museums, writing articles, filming videos, supporting artisans, organizing historical events, and showing that the past isn’t dead. It’s just waiting for someone to bring it back to life. Maybe YOU, together with us! Thank you! Dagfari and Marja

And if you’ve read this far, you can like us on Facebook or Instagram and give this post a heart at the top so we know you were here—or just go check out what’s new on DAGFARI.net :)