We are very excited to invite you to join us for our FREE Skills Day.
Skills Day has become an important, and very exclusive, part of the Festival of Archaeology, offering a small number of participants the chance to work with and learn from some of the most skilled professionals in archaeology.
This year we are delighted that Emma Jones and James Dilley from Ancient Craft, will be leading two workshops - Bronze Age jewellery crafting and Bronze Age axe casting.
Spaces are very limited, so be sure to book as early as possible.
For health and safety reasons, all participants must be aged 18 or over on the day of the event.
Because of the exclusive nature of the event, we are asking participants for a £10 deposit. This will be returned following attendance of the Skills Day.
You can attend the Jewellery workshop OR the Bronze axe casting workshop. Each activity is day long - you will only be able to attend one workshop.
Workshop 1: Bronze Age Jewellery
Find out how people in the Bronze Age used jet and jet-like materials to create a range of personal ornamentation, from bangles, buttons, belt rings, beads and pendants! Which artefact will you choose to replicate?
Our day will begin with an introductory talk into personal ornamentation in the Bronze Age, focusing on jet and jet-like materials. We’ll take a closer look at what artefacts have been found in Britain, what they’re made from and how experimental archaeology can help to better understand how these objects were made.
The rest of the morning will be spent working with a piece of jet to shape and drill a bead before moving onto creating a shale button, belt ring or pendant. Despite its fame in the Victorian period, jet and jet-like materials have been collected and shaped by people for thousands of years. Using far simpler tools than Victorian crafts people, they achieved stunning pieces that still dazzle people in museum displays today. What was so special about this mysterious black material? Why do we refer to jet-like materials? Find out at this workshop!
Emma Jones specialises in creating replica prehistoric jewellery from the Stone
Age through to the Bronze Age.
Workshop 2: Bronze Axe Casting
On this workshop, attendees can choose from a selection of different axe types to cast including: The flaring blade of the flanged axe is an iconic tool from prehistory, it appears as both artefacts and in rock art at Stonehenge. These tools were often highly decorated, suggesting a close relationship with its owner. Another option would be to cast a middle Bronze Age palstave axe. Metallurgy analysis shows Welsh copper can be found in over 90% of the early palstave axes found around NW Europe.
Workshop students will be guided through making a mould, working the furnace and casting their own axe. Once cast they will have the opportunity to clean and decorate their axe head. Hafting instructions will be given at the end of the workshop.
