Theresa Emmerich

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Theresa Emmerich

I am an Experimental Archaeologist with a PhD centred on prehistoric tanning.

I teach ancient technology, prehistoric crafts, traditional skills and bushcraft through global workshops and online courses.🌿️

www.theresaemmerich.com

12/09/2026

🦬 So begins the great Bison tanning party!!

, Prof. Linda Hurcombe and I have showed up early to Rabbitstick (the oldest primitive skills gathering in the USA) with the intent of tanning 3 hair on bison robes.

This slightly insane venture has been enabled Barnes from who has provided us with 3 lovely skins! As well as lending us his extensive experience tanning this particular critter.

So far we've scienced a bit.... Weighing, measuring and such... Then tied them up and weighed them down in the river to rehydrate!!

Stay tuned for more speed tanning bison 🦬🦬🦬 😂

12/09/2026

📣 Three spots left for my upcoming Ancestral Hide Tanning Course in Livermore, California — hosted by the wonderful team at California Survival School

This three‑day workshop (Oct 2–4, 2026) is a full immersion into traditional fat‑tanning: rehydrating, defleshing, applying lecithin‑based dressings, softening, and smoking the hides.

California Survival School’s site in the hills outside Livermore is a perfect place to learn: quiet, natural, and set up for practical work.

Sign up details and course info is on my website. 😊

11/09/2026

🐰 Back in the US. I'm heading to Rabbitstick now with my professor and dear friend Linda Hurcombe. I'm really looking forward to catching up with old friends, and of course having a bit of fun.

After that, I’m off to California, where I’ll be teaching a hide tanning course in Livermore.

𝗜’𝘃𝗲 𝗮𝗹𝘀𝗼 𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗳𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗹𝘆, 𝘄𝗵𝗶𝗰𝗵 𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗹𝘂𝗱𝗲𝗱 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝘂𝗻𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝗳𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗼𝗼𝗻: slogging through beaver ponds while dragging a dead duck on a fishing rod to help train my dad’s new hunting dog. All while being stared down by a very curious (and absolutely not shy) beaver… and a furious mink that nearly ran over my feet.

I had no idea he asked me along so that I could make that happen. Lol!!

Also.... The 'pub' outside Cheyenne had someone ride a horse in for a drink 😆😂

10/09/2026

🦌 Did you know you can browse all my courses by country? It's a much easier way to find the workshops closest to you.

I’ve updated the entire Courses by Country page on my website, so you can quickly explore hide tanning, fish skin dyeing, sewing, leatherwork, using the whole animal and other traditional skills courses across the UK, Scotland, USA, Germany, Spain, Australia, N. Ireland, France, and Sweden.

▶️ Several countries already have new dates live for 2027, and I’ll be adding more courses shortly.

If you’re hoping for a spot in 2026–2027, this is a good time to visit my website. More info below. 👇

09/09/2026

🐟 Fish Skin Tanning, Dyeing & Sewing – Spain, 22–25 October 2026

If you’ve ever wanted to learn tanning in a way that feels hands‑on, welcoming and deeply rooted in traditional skills, this four‑day course in Caravaca, Spain is a beautiful place to start.

𝗬𝗼𝘂’𝗹𝗹 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹:

- tan fish skins with natural tannins
- dye them in six colours
- sew your own small pouch using fish skin and brain‑tanned leather.

Over these days you’ll work through every step with clear guidance, comfortable tools, and plenty of time for questions.

Dinner is included each evening, and there’s even the option for airport pickup if you’re arriving from Murcia or Alicante.

If you want to join this course, you can find the full overview on the website. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗯𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗿‑𝗳𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗹𝘆. 🤩

09/09/2026

What a fantastic time we had running the most recent Using the Whole Animal course!

We all felt especially welcome as the venue was so well prepared for us, with plenty of tables and some great areas to work in. Thanks so much for that!

Dismantling a Red Deer across from a set of formal Roman gardens and villa is both niche and very nice! ❤️😁

Over three very warm days the participants learned how to start with a whole Red deer then gut/grolach, remove filets, and sinews, remove the head, the front legs, the neck for a roast, then break down the ribcage, and lumbar region, leaving just the back legs to quarter out from the pelvis!

A fair helping of deer anatomy, physiology and behaviour is covered during the initial breakdown as well.

𝗪𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗮 𝗥𝗲𝗱 𝗱𝗲𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗣𝗟𝗘𝗡𝗧𝗬 𝗼𝗳 𝗺𝗲𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗴𝗼 𝗮𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱!

So everyone got ample time time to breakdown the sections into different cuts of meant, including steaks, jerky, stew meat and roasts. Including an opportunity to test out some stone bone and slate tools for the job.

The wonderful meals were prepared by who gets a big round of applause for keeping 15 people fed and happy for 3 days!

As well as eating their own body weight in venison the participants learned how to process various parts of the animal into utilitarian and craft items such as:

🌿 Create Intestine Cordage,
🌿 Craft Bone Tools
🌿 Preserve, prepare and make sinew thread.....

𝗔𝗻𝗱 𝗼𝗳 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀𝗲..... 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁 𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗸𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝗺𝗲𝗹𝗹𝘀 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 😂😂😆.

Three very busy days saw the students head home with a bone tool, a few varieties of Cordage Craft, very full stomachs, and a wealth of new knowledge!

I always hope this class takes away some of the mystery often surrounding animal preparation for food and craft. There is no such thing as right and wrong, just more and less efficient!

Even if your attempts at cutting up the carcass make it look like you were aiming for pulled pork 😆. It's still going to taste great! Just get in there and practice!

08/09/2026

🦌There are some courses and venues where the places and people create a magical experience.

My most recent Deer Skin Tanning course at Buster Ancient Farm was one of those experiences!

With tanning beams leaned against an Anglo-Saxon house reconstruction we took deer skins through the full process from raw skins to beautiful, soft durable leather!

We had a bit of a fight with the weather gods so, ended up softening the skins late into the second day in a (rather smokey) Iron Age round house. Just as we were near finishing what had been a very long day.... A lovely gentleman attending the concurrent Knapp-In of the Lithic Studies Society popped in with with 2 kegs of home brewed Bronze Age b**r! Which we all enjoyed immensely!

The morning of the 3rd day, just before we started smoking the skins inside the Anglo-Saxon house, the 2 baby swallows finally left their nest in the rafters! Good timing that..... We'd been watching for nearly 2 weeks thinking.... any time now!

𝗧𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗸 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘁𝗼 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝘂𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸. To and Professor Linda Hurcombe for helping everyone turn out fantastic buckskins. And to the whole crew for providing some truly memorable conversations! 😂😂😁

18/08/2026

🎟️ Two spots left for the Deer Skin Tanning at Butser Ancient Farm in Hampshire 28–30 August 2026

This is a three‑day intensive course in traditional fat‑tanning. You’ll learn skills such as:

🌿 de‑fleshing
🌿 de‑graining
🌿 dressing
🌿 softening and smoking

and head home with your own beautifully soft, durable hide.

If you want to join head over to my website. More details below.👇

12/08/2026

📸 Here are some pictures showing a few highlights from this past weekend's Using the Whole Animal course in Scotland.

It was all around a fantastic experience!

The enthusiasm of the participants made teaching the course a joy, as did the (mostly) lovely weather. Scotland had to remind us of where we were on the last afternoon with a rain shower and some chilly temps. However, the rest of the weekend was delightful! 😀

Over the 3 day course we worked our way through the amazing variety of resources one deer can provide. From meat and edible organs to cordage, containers, tools, entertainment and ornaments.

There was something to suit everyone's areas of interest!

And..... this course is never complete without the amazing food prepared from our deer! 🦌 A special thank you to Caroline Ross for the delicious meals!

Thank you to Woodland Ways for hosting the course, and to Davie and Andy for wrangling all the logistics as well as hauling water and wood whilst regaling us with epic fireside tales! ,

I'm already looking forward to next year's 7 Day Animal Use Intensive, 6-12th August 2027. You can find detailed info below.👇

08/08/2026

❓ Now you can find answers to the questions I get asked most about my courses.

Over the years, the same questions keep coming up — what a course actually involves, what to bring, how tanning works, and why I teach it the way I do.

So I’ve pulled everything together into one place: a new FAQ page on my website. It’s worth bookmarking if you’re thinking about a course.

𝗜𝘁 𝗰𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲:

🦌 What’s involved in courses like Deer Skin Tanning, Using the Whole Animal, Coyote Fur Tanning, general hide tanning and more
🧵 What to bring, what’s provided, and how physically demanding each course is
🎓 How 30 years of research and practice, including my PhD work at Exeter, shapes what I teach

Got a question that’s not answered there? Shoot me a message here on Facebook — I answer these personally.

I’ve added more information below. 👇

Address

University Of Exeter, Laver Building
Exeter
EX44QE

Website

http://www.theresaemmerich.com/

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