USING THE WHOLE ANIMAL

Learn to Use the Whole Animal: A hands-on Course in Butchery and Utilization

I'm excited to offer this intensive, three-day hands-on course together with Caroline Ross. We will teach you how to minimize waste and make the most of every part of an animal.

Due to the danger and energy expenditure involved with hunting, our ancestors would make sure to waste as little of an animal as possible. An animal represented a precious resource; food, clothing, containers, cordage, tools, and lighting, among other things, could all be derived from a single animal.  

This course will introduce you to which parts of an animal are useful for different products, and how to preserve those parts until they can be used. We will cover all basic butchery for both food and utilitarian items, as well as those parts not often seen as useful.

Learn to use a range of materials during the course. Some examples of what will be covered include:

• Organs: Removing, sorting, and cleaning the edible organs as well as the utilitarian ones, such as brains for tanning the skin, the bladder for water bags, and intestines for thread.

• Skin: Removing the skin, de-fleshing, and preserving the skin for later use and the making of hide glue.

• Meat: Removing the meat, what cuts are best suited to different uses. How to debone, make roasts, jerky, and soup meat—basic meat preservation.

• Fat: How to render fat to preserve it.

• Bones: How to separate joints, bones as food, how to make tools from bones, such as skin processing tools, awls and needles, fishhooks, harpoon and arrow points, and jewellery.

• Sinew: How to remove, clean, and preserve both backstrap and leg sinew, and how to later process it for fibre for sewing, bowstrings, hafting, bow backing, etc.

• Hooves: How to process the hooves for decorative items or hoof glue.

• Antlers: If antlers are present, how to remove them, and a discussion on how best to work with antlers.

  
  

  * Multiple levels of technologies, from stone to steel, will be covered.

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 4:00 pm)

Max number of participants: 12

Prerequisites: None - This workshop is suitable for ages 18+.

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: Three scrumptious lunches and two dinners (see menu below) using venison are included in this workshop, but you may want to bring your own snacks as well. Sandwiches (subject to availability), hot and cold drinks, and snacks are sold in our gift shop. Please bring your own breakfast.

Menu:

Day 1

Lunch: Filet & filet minion in streaky bacon with salad and bread

Dinner: Spicy haunch steaks, organ meats, new potatoes, salad, and slow-cooked front leg roast with garlic and rosemary

Day 2

Lunch: Ribs, hummus, and bread

Dinner: Stew and dumplings, and herby rolled skirt steak with tabouleh

Day 3

Lunch: Pitta bread wraps with fried diced meat, feta, and tzatziki

Snacks: Jerky

Desserts

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.

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 and frustrating problems that are 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 outdoors as possible, sourcing her materials, creating her work, and immersing herself in nature.