In the craft world of the modern age, bone seems to be a rather neglected raw material that is rarely used for much of anything. But that was not always so, and fortunately Dave was willing to come on the podcast and share a little bit of his experience and insight on the craft of working with bones and antlers.
Dave is a re-enactor of the early medieval period and a bone crafter who specializes in replicating artifacts of that time period. We chat about the history, archaeology, artifacts, methodology, and manufacture of bone implements. Overall, I found this to be a very fascinating and informative conversation, hopefully you enjoy it as much as I did!
I also hope we can change our perspective on how bone was used historically, and garner some ideas on what we can make with it now!
Resources Mentioned
- The Bayeux Tapestry — link to the Bayeux museum. I had never heard of this tapestry before but found it quite interesting so I included it here in case anyone else wants to look into it a little more.
- Bibliography section of Dave’s blog
- Working with Bone, Antler and Horn by David Constantine
- Working in Plastic, Bone, Amber and Horn by Erland Borglund
- Bone Carving: A Skillbase of Techniques and Concepts by Stephen Myhre
- Discovering Horn by Paula Hardwick
- Who’s a Horn? What’s an Antler?: Crafts of Bone and Horn by Janet D’Amato
- Comb Making in America by Bernard W. Doyle
