ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses information panels as a channel for communicating archaeological knowledge to the tourist. Looking back at a hundred-year-old tradition of archaeological information panels, we can see there is a need to develop information panels in order for them to be more engaging and consequently to contribute to experience-based learning for the tourist. The authors put forward the concept of heritage interpretation as a way of producing new insights and ways of working with information panels. The goal of heritage interpretation is to make heritage meaningful and relevant to an audience on a personal and emotional level. This should be done in a way that stimulates them to reflect and to be surprised, provoked and amused. According to the TORE model, successful heritage interpretation should have a clear theme and be well organized, relevant to the audience and enjoyable. The results of our study show that the focus for developing information panels should be on getting familiar with the audience and their prior knowledge, and to abandon the major mission of informing the visitor. To accomplish experience-based learning with information panels as interpretive media, panels should be regarded more as a means of opening doors to experience archaeological heritage.
