DEER SKIN TANNING

Learn the Ancient Craft of Deer Skin Tanning in this Hands-On Course

You'll learn this timeless skill from start to finish, transforming a raw hide into a beautiful, usable product.

This intensive, three-day course focuses on the traditional art of fat-tanning deer skins. We'll use a variety of techniques that rely on lecithin and oil as the primary dressing agents, resulting in a beautifully soft and durable hide. While this process isn't for the squeamish, the final product is a testament to your hard work. You'll walk away with a high-quality hide and the skills to practice this ancient craft on your own.

The course will cover:

• De-fleshing: Removing the meat and fat.

• De-graining: Removing the outer grain layer.

• Alkalining for ground substance removal.

• Dressing: Applying the tanning agents.

• Softening and smoking the skins.

  
  

Learn to produce incredibly soft, strong, and durable leather from raw animal skin using one of humankind’s earliest tanning technologies! Utilizing materials readily available in the surrounding environment, walk through the steps of this transformation. Discover the progression of this process from raw skin to beautiful, usable, finished leather.

In addition to enthusiastic instruction, we provide comfortable, easy-to-use tools and detailed handouts covering the tanning process, as well as ethnographic anecdotes and a list of helpful literature for those who wish to further their knowledge of tanning! So, please join us for a course sure to contain plenty of memorable moments, lots of practical information, and, if you put in the work**, one that will see you heading home with a beautiful, unique, and usable traditionally tanned skin!

* Using brains or egg yolks as an alternative dressing agent will be covered.

** Please be aware that a reasonable amount of fitness is required for this course. I will provide instruction on good technique and timing with the skins, but you will need to be on your feet and active for 6 to 8 hours per day. 

Any serious injuries must be discussed with me before booking the course.

Additional Information:

Payment: See payment info here Note: Gift cards can not be used for this course.

Duration: 3 days (Friday 10:00 am - Sunday 5:00 pm)

Max number of participants: 12

Prerequisites: None

Venue and location: Butser Ancient Farm is a world-renowned open-air museum dedicated to the archaeology of Britain's prehistoric past.

Set within the beautiful landscape of the South Downs National Park in Hampshire, the farm features reconstructed ancient buildings from the Stone Age, Iron Age, and Roman periods. The serene surroundings provide the perfect backdrop for this intensive course, allowing you to connect with the past as you learn to transform a raw hide into a beautiful, usable product.

Catering: This course is self-catered.Sandwiches (subject to availability), hot and cold drinks, and snacks are sold in the gift shop.

Accommodation: The course fee is £440. For an even better value, you can stay on-site in a historical building for two nights for a total of £500. You can choose the option that is best for you at checkout.

Included: All course materials.

Not included: Off-site Accommodation and food.

Instructors: Theresa Emmerich Kamper and Caroline Ross

A bit about me:

I'm an avid practitioner of traditional living skills and of all kinds of primitive technology. My interest came in part from growing up in the USA's Rocky Mountains, where backpacking, hunting, and fishing are deeply rooted in the culture. This passion led me to the academic field of Experimental Archaeology, where I earned a PhD from the University of Exeter in the UK.

My work has been featured in both documentaries and popular TV shows, including Alone Season 8 and Surviving the Stone Age. I've been tanning skins using traditional methods for over 30 years. Learning to tan was a natural offshoot of my desire to use as much of an animal as possible, and it had the added bonus of producing a beautiful end product.

In my instruction, I share a wide range of information—from the intricate details of skin morphology to helpful tips for dealing with the numerous, frustrating problems often encountered when you're first learning to tan.

About Caroline Ross

Caroline Ross lives and works as an artist in Bournemouth, Dorset, UK, creating drawings and paintings with wild and ancient materials. Her work ranges from small illustrations to large murals.

For years, she has taught both life drawing and painting. She now focuses on teaching others how to create their own art materials from natural sources.

She holds courses from her own studio, online, and as a guest instructor at centers across Europe and the UK. She also teaches a unique course called 'Found and Ground Art Materials' at Dartington, and she works with the Dark Mountain Project, both online and in person at Schumacher College.

After decades spent indoors in art and recording studios, she now spends as much of her life as possible outdoors, sourcing her materials, creating her work, and immersing herself in nature.