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Festival of Metals – Historical Metallurgy Society

Butser Ancient Farm Butser Ancient Farm, Hampshire

Join the Historical Metallurgy Society for a weekend of all things metal! Renowned researchers and craftspeople will share their skills and knowledge at Butser Ancient Farm on the weekend of 24 and 25 May 2025. Demonstrations of various metalworkers will take place while national and international researchers are presenting big-picture overviews of their findings. In-depth talks on the history of metal objects next to the creation of ‘metal art’. There will be a raffle and an auction for replica historical metal objects. All made by our demonstrators. Auction on Sunday 25 May at 3pm. You can book your tickets via Eventbrite https://festivalofmetals.eventbrite.co.uk  . You will need to scroll down the ticket list if you want to add on the Saturday evening meal (one person per group needs to be a HMS Member) See below for: List of talks, demonstrations and people involved Info about Butser Ancient Farm

Flintknapping Weekend Workshop

Ludham Ludham, Great Yarmouth, United Kingdom

The oldest flint tools found in Britain date to around 1 million years ago, the latest around 3000 years ago so you will have the chance to try your hand at a process used for 99.7% of human presence in Britain!   A full weekend focused on flintknapping and stone tools! The flintknapping weekender is a deeper dive into learning lithics than our single day workshop, its an fantastic opportunity to really get to grips with this challenging, but fulfilling craft. We'll start with the basics, which is really useful if you're new to the craft or experienced. Then we will start to climb the steps to more methods of making stone tools such as pressure flaking to make arrowheads and learning how to make thinner tools like handaxes and even knives. Our aim on these workshops is to really help students understand the process and improve their technique,…

£200

Bronze Axe Casting Workshop

Great Orme Copper mines Llandudno, Llandudno, United Kingdom

A truly unique opportunity to experience Bronze Age metalworking in one of the most significant locations to the Bronze Age in the UK! Join experimental archaeologist, Dr James Dilley as he guides you through the process our ancestors perfected over 4000 years ago.   Participants will get the hands-on chance to prepare a mould, working the leather bellows and cast liquid bronze to produce a replica axehead to take home!   Following a safety briefing, workshop attendees will prepare their own mould, before working the leather bellows on the charcoal fuelled furnace to melt copper and tin. They will then cast the liquid metal into their prepared moulds to produce a replica early bronze age axe head to take home at the end of the day. Students can then begin decorating the axe, filing off the casting flash and start cleaning the surfaces of the axe.   There will be short talk over lunch about the life and times of Bronze Age people in Europe. It will cover our current understanding of technology in the Bronze Age and how it is reflected in archaeology. It will be an informal talk with lots of scope for open discussion.   Entry to the mines is included in the workshop ticket price. More information about the mines can be found here: https://www.greatormemines.info/   Guidance will be on-hand at all times. Appropriate clothing must be worn for manual work (fully covered shoes and trousers etc).   Workshop attendees are encouraged to bring their own lunch and drinks. Attendees must be over 16.

£150

Bronze Sword Casting Workshop

Great Orme Copper mines Llandudno, Llandudno, United Kingdom

A truly unique opportunity to experience Bronze Age metalworking in one of the most significant locations to the Bronze Age in the UK! Join experimental archaeologist, Dr James Dilley as he guides you through the process our ancestors perfected over 4000 years ago.   The first swords in Europe were made of bronze. They are an iconic development in the human story as social pressure led to tension between groups and individuals. Swords were as much a tool of fighting as they were status symbols. During the workshop, participants can make a replica of the iconic leaf-bladed Ewart Park style sword blade . Workshop students will prepare their own mould, before working the leather bellows on the charcoal fuelled furnace to melt copper and tin. They will then cast the liquid metal into their prepared moulds to produce a replica bronze age sword to take home at the end of the day. Students can then begin filing off the casting flash and start cleaning the surfaces of the sword.   There will be short talk over lunch about the life and times of Bronze Age people in Europe. It will cover our current understanding of technology in the Bronze Age and how it is reflected in archaeology. It will be an informal talk with lots of scope for open discussion.   Entry to the mines is included in the workshop ticket price. More information about the mines can be found here: https://www.greatormemines.info/   Guidance will be on-hand at all times. Appropriate clothing must be worn for manual work (fully covered shoes and trousers etc).   Workshop attendees are encouraged to bring their own lunch and drinks. Attendees must be over 16.

£270