Ancient Craft, setup and run by James Dilley is dedicated to the archaeology of primitive crafts and technologies that encompass three prehistoric ages: STONE; BRONZE and IRON. This includes working with natural materials like flint, wood, bone, leather, ceramics, metals, fibres and wools. My outreach objective is to encourage people of all ages to learn about long-lost crafts by bringing back to life our ancestors skills and knowledge from the primitive past.
A PhD student at the University of Southampton, James is a craftsman and re-enactor who specialises in all prehistoric technologies. Working with museums (British Museum, Stonehenge, Pitt Rivers museum), heritage centres and media (Time Team; Coast; National Geographic; The Great British Countryside), publishers (Dorling Kindersley, New Scientist), photographers, schools and geologists in research and experimental archaeology.

In the Archer’s grave, excavated near Stonehenge, lay the earliest metal artefacts found in Britain – gold hair rings and copper daggers. He was one of the Beaker People. In his head and hands he carried magical knowledge of metalwork. What made him set out from the mountains of central Europe, risking wild animals and hostile tribes to cross the sea in a small boat?
Jane’s workshops will illustrate many of the questions she explored and some of the answers she discovered. Participants will be encouraged to think of questions of their own and to discuss the differences between their lives and those of girls and boys in a pre-literate, male-dominated, status-conscious warrior society (!). They will be given resources to make drawings and /or write about the Archer and his sister, the Beaker People, their homes, the animals they farmed and hunted, their clothes and kit, what they believed and more.
Jane is an experienced teacher of drawing. As an illustrator she collaborates with archaeologists to interpret their findings and ideas for books, museums and the media. Her involvement in prehistory began long ago when she worked as a digger and draftswoman on the Stonehenge Environs Project. She made the original image of the Amesbury Archer which was published worldwide and is displayed in the British Museum.

Discover the world famous Stonehenge which has inspired people for thousands of years. Highlights include the 360 degree audio-visual experience from inside
the stone circle and our reconstructed Neolithic Houses. Our expert led Discovery Visits are available for KS1-KS5, £100 for up to 30 students.