Bronze Age Spear Casting Experience

Craft Your Own Bronze Spear

Come join us for a three-day hands-on experience crafting your very own bronze spear!

Learn the ancient techniques used during the Arreton Phase to create this subtle weapon. The Arreton phase took place during the period from 1700 to 1500 B.C. and is notable in Britain for its tanged spearheads.

Meet Your Instructors

Rowan Taylor
Instagram: @rolyatnawor
Rowan Taylor is a well-known archaeological metalworker with a propensity towards Iron Age techniques, materials, and philosophies. He has worked on projects including the analysis of metalwork from Sutton Hoo and the forging of an anchor for a Viking warship.

Clare Collier
Instagram: @smeltdownblacksmiths
Clare Collier, whom you may recognize from the award-winning TV series Make it at Market, is an incredibly talented blacksmith with a flair for design and a passion for historical techniques and niche archaeological objects.

What You’ll Learn

This in-person event is perfect for metalworkers, history buffs, and primitive technology enthusiasts alike. Don't miss this unique opportunity to immerse yourself in the art of bronze spear-making!

During the course of this class, you will have the opportunity to:

• Carve a soapstone mould
• Mix copper and tin to produce bronze
• Cast a small, Arreton-phase style spearhead based on an example from early Bronze Age Britain
• Work-harden your spearhead before stone-polishing the casting
• Fire-straighten a shaft of green Hazel or Ash
• Carve and shape the shaft of Ash or Hazel
• Fit your spearhead to the shaft using leather thonging and a wooden dowel

For those who work fast, you will also have the opportunity to make a woven birch bark sheath for your spear.

Additional Information

• Free on-site camping is available for those who enjoy the outdoors.
• For those camping there will be experiments in iron and copper smelting, a chance to try forging, and maybe some campfire talks on metallurgy and iron through the ages, with perhaps a glass of whisky!
• Please note that this event is self-catering.

Come join us for this unique historical crafting experience and bring history to life with your own hands!