Carving workshop

The first of a series of three carving workshops was held today. Claire and Anna has prepared with pictures of artefacts, and

Jade carving tools made by Rick

Rick brought a small selection of artefacts from the collection for people to be inspired by. Driftwood and bark have been gathered on the beach, and antler has been sourced and soaked for those who’d like to give antler carving a try. Rick has even made a couple of carving tools using jade, originating from the same source as the jade drill bits we find at the site, if anyone dare to try the old-fashioned materials (they work very well Claire told me).

 

Unfortunately for the workshop (and the fish) the weather was ver nice today, so outdoors seemed more appealing to most. However, Bryan came eager to carve, and by the end of the carving session hade made several kayaks and other artwork.

Bryan working on his second kayak

Bryan Jones carving under John Smith’s watch.

John also joined us to talk about carving and
toolmaking, and we all tried our hands on carving, with more or less success (my poor duckfaced palraiyuk will never make any friends – neither Anna’s seal nor PT’s owl will ever look at him with anything but pity). Claire, who’s an expert in ancient bone technology, put her skills to the test in working antler. She chose to work with the jade tools, and, even though very crude in comparison to the jade tools from the site, they seemed to work well. It was a very fun and quite instructive day – but lets hope for rain tomorrow 😉

Claire carving antler using the jade carving tool

Charlotta