I believe that archaeology is for everyone, not just academics and professionals. Although I frequently speak at conferences, I also speak at schools, run workshops, and look for places where I can speak to people who normally wouldn’t get to experience bronze casting, or learn about the ancient history of their favourite craft.
I’ve spoken to groups of university students, and kids at grade schools, cast bronze with groups of differently-abled adults, and at-risk youth. Everyone is fascinated by the flames and the show, watching metal go from a solid to a liquid and to a solid again.
However these workshops are more than watching metal melt. They are accompanied by talks about how the air from the bellows can raise the temperature to 2000F/1100C, how different additives to a clay mix can help ceramics withstand high temperatures, and we can all speculate on how humans first discovered metal. It’s always a memorable adventure and exciting for everyone.
Below are links to some of the talks and workshops I’ve organised or participated in.
If you would like me to come to your school or event, please contact me. I will help organise the materials and provide additional lectures if you would like that as part of the program.
Previous Casting Workshops
Western Illinois University, Macomb, Illinois, USA
Bronze Casting Festival, Uelsen, Germany
Umha Aois, Ireland
Bronze Casting in Italy, Montale, Italy
Sedgeford Historical and Archaeological Research Program
School Groups
Cyprus Academy, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
Academic conferences
2017
14th Nordic Bronze Age Conference, Oslo, Norway
2016
Metalworker and His Tools: Queen’s University, Belfast, Northern Ireland
2015
9th Experimental Archaeology Conference, Dublin, Ireland
Archaeometallurgy in Europe IV, Madrid, Spain
2014
Conference Review: 8th Experimental Archaeology Conference, Oxford, UK
Unusual Venues!
What better place to discuss the prehistory of textiles and news of experimental archaeology in fibre than at a yarn shop?