"Through my teaching, I share the impressive technologies which were part of early humans everyday lives, and which can still be a part of ours."

- Theresa Emmerich Kamper

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Completed PhD

University of Exeter, prehistoric tanning technologies

Published Researcher

Peer-reviewed book, Sidestone Press

National TV Credits

Alone Season 8, Surviving the Stone Age

30+ Years Practicing

Hands-on practitioner since childhood in Wyoming

AVID PRACTIONER OF TRADITIONAL LIVING SKILLS AND PRIMITIVE TECHNOLOGIES

My Story: Experimental Archaeologist, Traditional Skills & Bushcraft Instructor

A lifetime spent turning ancient hands-on knowledge into modern, teachable skills. I teach traditional tanning and ancestral technologies to students, museums, universities, and practitioners worldwide.

Theresa Emmerich Kamper teaching animal hide processing on a field.

UNLOCK ANCESTRAL KNOWLEDGE

In-person bushcraft, hide tanning & ancestral skills courses

These are the hands-on skills our ancestors relied on to survive — hide tanning, fur work, fish skin, and whole-animal use. Pick a craft below, and I'll teach you the rest, one small group at a time. And feel free to get in touch. :)

COURSES BY COUNTRY

ONLINE COURSES

about

Dr. Theresa Emmerich Kamper, experimental archaeologist, holding a tanned deer hide.

MY PHILOSOPHY

Why I teach traditional skills and ancestral crafts

Knowledge belongs to everyone, and should not be thwarted by financial barriers.

I do my best to allow access to the knowledge I have gathered, by traveling to a group of students rather than them traveling to me. Allowing me to keep the costs associated with attending a course to a minimum.

I am committed to open access information, and I want to continue combining academic information with craft knowledge so that both can benefit from each other. These types of collaboration produce research far superior to what can often be accomplished with only one angle.

My PhD thesis combines my personal knowledge of the hands with an academic look at prehistoric tannage technologies. Thanks to generous gifts via GoFundMe from people who share my viewpoint, my book, "Determining Prehistoric Skin Processing Technologies", is available online at no cost as a read-only version.

Traditional skills from the past can enrich our present lives and mold our futures. I strive to provide a bridge for this process. Through courses, research and my upcoming Centre for Ancient Technologies.

This is the legacy I want to leave behind.

My services include hands-on, in person courses around the world, consultations, lectures, leather artefact analysis, museum presentations and exhibit consultations, as well as appearances in documentaries.

about

MY JOURNEY

From Wyoming to a PhD in Experimental Archaeology

I am an avid practitioner of traditional living skills and primitive technologies of all kinds and have pursued this interest in the academic field of Experimental Archaeology, where I hold an MA in Experimental Archaeology and a PhD on the ‘Microscopic Analysis of Prehistoric Tanning Technologies’ from the University of Exeter.

I have been tanning skins using traditional technologies for over 30 years. Coming originally from Wyoming in the United States, I was lucky enough to grow up in a family of outdoor enthusiasts. This enthusiasm extended to hunting, fishing, and trapping in the vast tracts of wilderness surrounding my hometown.

Learning to tan was a natural offshoot of the attempt to use as much of the animal as possible, and had the added bonus of producing a beautiful end product. Through much trial and error and with the support of very tolerant parents, I learned to brain tan skins between the ages of 11 and 13. Later interaction with other traditional tanners and excellent written information vastly improved the efficiency and quality of my tanning process and end product.

I have taught various tanning methods, including fat tan, vegetable tan, alum taw, and rawhide production, to groups ranging from bushcrafters to University students for over 15 years, drawing on my extensive personal experience to provide a broad understanding of the tanning process.

I include a diverse range of information, from skin morphology to helpful hints for dealing with the numerous and frustrating problems often encountered when first learning to tan (and often long after!).

In addition to my main area of expertise in tanning technologies, I have also taught and demonstrated a wide range of traditional living skills including; the construction and use of traditional weapons, the use of plant and animal fibres, patterning and clothing construction, basketry, clay processing, pottery manufacture and firing, shelter construction and use, friction fire lighting and basic flint knapping and stone tool construction and use.