Bone & Antler carving workshop

Name: Bone & Antler carving workshop
Start: 2025-11-01T10:00:00+00:00
End: 2025-11-01T16:00:00+00:00
Location: Norfolk Broads

Schedule

Sat Nov 01 2025 at 10:00 am to 04:00 pm

UTC+00:00

Location

Norfolk Broads | Coltishall, EN

Bone and antler has been used from the start of prehistory up to the modern day for making tools and ornamentation. People in prehistory had a close relationship with the animals these resources came from, what does that tell us about the past?
What were the first bone or antler tools? Which hominin added this material to their toolkit alongside stone? We’ll find out on the introductory talk to start the day. Once we move onto the making, we’ll use pieces of bone to carve bone points which will become needles, perhaps one of the most ingenious and important inventions of the Stone Age. You’ll use stone tools to carve, shape and smooth the bone point before drilling an eye for the needle with a flint drill. After needles, we’ll move onto working antler. A different material that was united to making different tools, and the focus of the afternoon will be turning your antler blank into a harpoon point like those used in the Mesolithic and Palaeolithic.
A busy workshop with lots of carving and scraping that will give you a new appreciation of how humans looked to different materials to make use of their natural characteristics.

Participant Information:
Please bring suitable clothing and protection for the weather on the workshop weekend (PPE will be provided). Once you sign up to the workshop you will receive full details and directions to the workshop.

Fee & Refreshments:
Our pricing includes tuition, materials, teas and coffees. Please let us know in advance if you have any dietary requirements. Our workshop is situated next to a pub (The Dog Inn - Ludham) that may be able to provide lunch if you call in advance or you may wish to bring a packed lunch. They are open from 1st of March to 31st October for food, drinks and camping if required.

Terms & Conditions:
Please find our terms and conditions here for information regarding booking, cancellation and more.
By booking onto a workshop or event you are accepting and agreeing to these terms.