Dr. Theresa Emmerich Kamper
Tanning & Traditional Skills
Curriculum Vitae
Dr. Theresa Emmerich Kamper
Personal Profile
Traditional living skills specialist with a PhD in experimental archaeology: expertise in historic and prehistoric skin tanning technologies, and clothing construction. Extensive experience in organic material culture studies, leather artefact analysis, artefact replication, implementation and presentation in both traditional and open-air museum settings as well as private group and university classroom courses.
Education
2016 PhD
Determining Traditional Skin Processing Technologies: The macroscopic and microscopic characteristics of experimental samples and archaeological finds.
Department of Archaeology University of Exeter (UK)
2011 MA
Experimental Archaeology
Department of Archaeology University of Exeter (UK)
2006 BA
Anthropology, minor in Archaeology
Fort Lewis College (Durango, Colorado, USA)
Work History
2014 - Present
Leather Artefact Analysis and Artefact Replication;
Business Owner and Lead Researcher
2013 - Present
University of Exeter;
Honorary Research Fellow Research Fellow
2004 - Present
Prehistoric Tanning Technologies & Traditional Skills Instructor; Business Owner and Lead Instructor
2009
Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History; Anthropology Department Research Assistant
Professional Affiliations
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Society of Primitive Technology (SPT)
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EXARC-ICOM Affiliated Organisation
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Institute of Conservation (ICON)
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Archaeological Leather Group (ALG)
Skills
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English – Native Speaker
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Spanish - Intermediate
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Computing: Proficient in Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Publisher.
Extensive Experience in Traditional Living Skills
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Multiple skin tanning technologies including, brain tan
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Basketry and utilitarian plant use vegetable tan, alum taw, and rawhide
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Bone, wood and stone tool construction and use
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Plant and animal fibre working techniques
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Construction and use of various hunting and trapping technologies
Publications
Emmerich Kamper,T. and Linda Hurcombe, 2020
Fur and Skin Processing in Prehistory: An Experimental Approach to Prehistoric Tanning Technologies. Leather 2019: Proceedings of the 11th Interim Meething of the ICOM-CC Leather and Related Materials Working Group. ICOM-CC Council of Museums
Emmerich Kamper, T., 2020
Determining Traditional Skin Processing Technologies: the macro and microscopic characteristics of experimental leather samples. In Preparation Leiden Sidestone Press
Hurcombe, L., Emmerich Kamper, T. 2016
Plant materials, hides and skins as structural components: perishable material culture and archaeological invisibility, in Hurcombe, L. and Cunningham, P (eds). The Life Cycle of Structures in Experimental Archaeology. An object biography approach, Leiden Sidestone Press, p. 59-76
Rogers, J. Daniel, Teresa Nichols, Theresa Emmerich, Maciek Latek, and Claudio Cioffi-Revilla, 2012
Modeling Scale and Variability in Human-Environmental Interactions in Inner Asia. Ecological Modelling 241:5-14. doi:10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2011.11.025.
Conference Presentations
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Experimental Archaeology Conference - Exeter UK - March 2020
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Global Bushcraft Symposium, Calgary Canada - June 2019
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ICOM Leather and Related Materials Conference, Paris France - June 2019
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Experimental Archaeology Conference Trento Italy - May 2019
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Ancient Proteins (Proteomics) Conference Copenhagen Demark - August 2018
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Paleofestival: Terzo Incontro Studio Di Archaeologia Sperimentale and EXARC Annual General Meeting - May 2018
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SAA’s (Society for American Archaeology) (Skin Processing in Prehistory: An Experimental Approach to Determining Tanning Technologies) - April 2018
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LLC Conference (History of Brain Tannage in the Americas) - September 2017
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REARC (From Feathers to Fibres: A Functional Look at Transverse Groove Production on Pointed Bone Tools) - November 2017
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Experimental Archaeology Conference Leiden Netherlands (Skin Processing in Prehistory: An Experimental Approach to Determining Tanning Technologies) - April 2017
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REARC (Skin Processing in Prehistory: An Experimental Approach to Determining Tanning Technologies) - November 2016
University Presentations
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Edinburgh University: Reconstruction as Research: Experimental Archaeology and Public Engagement - March 2020
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Israel Museum: 1 Day Workshop on Prehistoric Tanning Technologies - March 2019
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University of Haifa: (Skin Processing in Prehistory: An Experimental Approach to Determining Tanning Technologies) - March 2018
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University of Tel Aviv (Skin Processing in Prehistory: An Experimental Approach to Determining Tanning Technologies) - March 2018
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Oxford Department of Zoology (The Use of Fur and Skin in Prehistory and Early Historic Periods) - April 2018
Leather Analysis and Reports
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State Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg, Scythian Leather Collections - March 2020 - ongoing
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Quay Branly Ethnographic Museum, Paris, North American Leather Collections - Feb 2020 - ongoing
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National Museum of Denmark, Mammen and Hvilehøj Leather Objects - February 2019 - ongoing
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Israel Museum, Shrine of the Book, Dead Sea Scrolls - March 2019
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Israel Museum, Dry Site Leather Objects - March 2019
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HUJI Hebrew University Jerusalem, Roman Era Leather Shoe - March 2018-2019
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Ashmoleon Museum Oxford, Contact Period Leather ‘Cape’- November - 2017
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Anasazi Heritage Centre, Dry Site Leather Artefacts - 2014
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History Colorado, Dry Site Leather Artefacts - 2014
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National Museum of Norway, Glacial Site Leather Shoe - 2014
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National Museum of Denmark- Bog Site Leather Artefacts (Sheep Skin Capes) - 2014
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MSC Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, Leather Artefacts and Ethnographic Material - 2014
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Assen, Bog Site Leather Artefacts - 2014
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Canton of Bern Switzerland, Schnidejoch Pass Leather Artefacts - 2014
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Swindon Centre for Conservation, White Horse Hill Material - 2014
Book Reviews
Post Medieval Archaeology ‘Roy Thomson & Quita Mould (ed.). Leather tanneries: the archaeological evidence’