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PALEOTECHNICS
WORKSHOPS
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with Tamara Wilder |
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LOCATION GUIDE
click on location for class info
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2010
keep up to date with us on
FACEBOOK
as classes and events are added
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click here to download pdf of current 2010 Class schedule
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- Workshops are held at a variety of locations and organized by the site host, so please use the contact information listed after each class description to get more logistical information or register.
- If you wish to speak directly with the instructor about workshop content or other topic related questions, please email Tamara at ts@paleotechnics.com
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TOPIC OVERVIEW GUIDE
click on
topic/location for details:
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BRAINTANNING BUCKSKIN
BRAINTANNING FURS
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EARTH PIGMENTS
& NATURAL BINDERS
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KIDS PROGRAMS
(open to the public)
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KIDS PROGRAMS
(private)
skills overview programs for schools, home school groups and birthday parties
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This list is long so you can either scroll through to browse all the workshops scheduled or use the
Topic Overview Guide or
Workshop Calendar Guide
to go directly to what you are looking for.
click here to download pdf of
current 2010 Class schedule
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WORKSHOP CALENDAR GUIDE 2010
click on date for details:
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March 6-7, 2010
(please note date change from February due to weather)

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BRAINTANNING
RABBIT FURS
March 6-7, 2010
9am - 5 or 6pm Sat & Sun
at Ghost Town Farm
Oakland, CA
Braintanning is a natural, beautiful & soft method for tanning furs.
In this two day class, participants will partake in the whole processfrom prepping and fleshing the pelt to smoking the softened fur. Tools and materials will be provided and some softening tools will also be available for sale.
Domestic rabbit furs will be supplied.
$120 per person
info/registration:
Novella Carpenter
email
(510) 847-7141
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April 10, 2010

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MAKING & USING RAWHIDE
April 10, 2010
9am-4pm
at the Mendocino Art Center,
Mendocino, CA
Make your own rawhide!
Rawhide is a de-haired piece of "untanned" hide that has the qualities of being stretchy and pliable when wet, shrinking and binding when drying, and hard and dense when dry. This diversity of character serves a plethora of purposes that have been largely replaced in our modern times by petroleum based plastics.
Reclaim the knowledge of how to make and use this ancient, sustainable and renewable natural material. Help slip the hair, scrape, scud and process a deer hide to transform it into "rawhide". Use prepared rawhide to make an elderberry miniature drum, vial container or rattle and (time permitting) a folded rawhide box.
$120 ($95 +$25 materials fee)
(Participants are also encouraged to take the Earth Pigments class on Sunday where they can paint and decorate their rawhide containers.)
Weekend Discount $235 ($180 + $55 materials fees)
www.mendocinoartcenter.org
800-653-3328
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EARTH PIGMENTS & NATURAL BINDERS
Sunday, April 11, 2010
9am-4pm
at the Mendocino Art Center,
Mendocino, CA
Make your own paint!
Learn how to identify and process rocks & earth deposits which make good pigment.
Take mineral pigments like yellow & red ochre through the grinding & settling processes and use them to paint objects made of wood, bone & hide using natural bindingmaterials like hide glue & egg yolk. Time permitting, we will discuss other pigments & modes of decoration and you should take home some sort of simple paint container.
$125 ($95 +$30 materials fee)
(Participants are also encouraged to take the
Making and Using Rawhide class on Saturday where they can
participate in the creation of the rawhide that will be painted upon.)
Weekend Discount $235 ($180 + $55 materials fees)
www.mendocinoartcenter.org
800-653-3328
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April 11, 2010

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May 2-8, 2010

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1st Annual BUCKEYE GATHERING
Traditional Arts & Primitive Living Skills
May 2-8
YaKaAma Indian Education and Development,
Forestville, CA
Welcome to the first year of Buckeye!
Choose from a wide range of workshops every day, share food, and enjoy the fire together at night. What we offer has not always been known as ‘Ancestral Arts’, ‘Primitive Technology’, ‘Wilderness Survival’ or ‘Earth Living Skills’. At one time it was just simply, LIFE.
So here is your chance to learn from teachers who keep these ways alive, to find doorways to deepening your connections to nature, to meet new pals, and see where inspiration takes you!
cordage
cob oven
potter
basketry
wild edibles
hide tanning
flintknapping
blacksmithing
primitive shelter
plant fiber arts
nature awareness
acorn processing
friction fire making
Tamara & Steven plan to teach
a Parfleche Painted Rawhide Workshop
All ages event, includes 5 full days of instruction.
Breakfast and dinner provided,
(with an emphasis on local organic and wild food.)
Week-long kids' camp for children ages 5 and older.
Camping space provided.
$320 advanced registration
$350 at the gate
see website for native, youth and senior rates
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USING ANIMALS WORKSHOP SERIES in Bolinas, CA
Many people who eat meat feel that they are out of touch with the sources and processes behind the food that ends up on their plate. The knowledge required to efficiently and humanely process an animal into food is an essential tool for self sufficiency. Beyond being a source of food, animals also provide many other materials that we as humans find useful.
This 3 weekend series will cover the entire process of slaughtering animals, processing them to preserve parts for food and other raw materials, and then using those materials to make a variety of products and creations. Participants may attend one, two or all three weekends. Each weekend stands on its own, however each experience will be enhanced by participation in the other weekends.
contact: Medea Aranda sproutreach@gmail.com 510-710-1054 (mobile) PO Box 351 Bolinas, Ca 94924
SERIES RATES:
- early bird $470-$400 sliding scale = $30 (-10per class) off ~ sign up and pay in full, all 3 weekends by 3/15
- $485-$415 sliding scale = $15 (-5 per class) off ~ postmarked after march 15th with 50% minimum deposit
- individual weekend rates listed with class description
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May 15-16, 2010

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PROCESSING ANIMALS FOR FOOD
in Bolinas, CA
May 15-16
10am-5pm Sat & Sun
with dinner, campfire and overnight camping
As a group we will slaughter, skin, gut and butcher 2 chickens, 2 rabbits and 2 goats (or 1 goat and 1 lamb depending on available animals). This selection of animals is representational of fowl, small animals and large animals and the skills learned can be applied to other similar animals, both wild and domestic.
There will be plenty of chances for hands-on experience.
Other topics to be covered are: innards processing & cooking, fat rendering, broth making, sausage making, jerky, pemmican, and hide storage.
Animal Processing weekend only $175-$150 sliding scale
Part of 3 weekend Using Animals Workshop Series
(click here for series rates)
contact: Medea Aranda sproutreach@gmail.com
510-710-1054 (mobile) PO Box 351 Bolinas, Ca 94924
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UTILITARIAN USES OF ANIMAL PARTS
in Bolinas, CA
June 19-20
10am-5pm Sat & Sun
with dinner, campfire and overnight camping
Animals that are depended upon for food
also offer a virtual hardware store of other essential materials.
Each participant will take apart the lowest leg portion of a large
animal to remove the skin, sinew, hooves and bones and then preserve the skin by drying, work the sinew into string and
the bone into a useful tool.
Topics that will be covered as a group are hide storage, making and using rawhide, making hide glue, rendering fat for utilitarian uses, and using vitreous humour as pigment binder.
Utilitarian Uses weekend only $165-$140 sliding scale
Part of 3 weekend Using Animals Workshop Series
(click here for series rates)
contact: Medea Aranda sproutreach@gmail.com
510-710-1054 (mobile) PO Box 351 Bolinas, Ca 94924
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June 19-20, 2010

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July 17-18, 2010


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BRAINTANNING DEERSKINS & GOATSKINS
in Bolinas, CA
July 17-18
9am-6pm Sat & Sun
with dinner, campfire and overnight camping
Brain tanned buckskin is an incredible, soft, durable
and washable leather which is made using all natural,
non-toxic, and biodegradable methods.
This weekend will focus on fleshing, scraping, braining, softening and smoking deer & goat skins and/or rabbit furs. Deer & Goat hides will be done in groups with one hide for every four people and, if all goes well, each person should take home about a quarter of a finished buckskin.
Rabbit skins can be done individually ($5 apiece)
as an additional project as desired.
Braintanning Buckskin weekend only $165-$140 sliding scale
Part of 3 weekend Using Animals Workshop Series
(click here for series rates)
contact: Medea Aranda sproutreach@gmail.com
510-710-1054 (mobile) PO Box 351 Bolinas, Ca 94924
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NCWHS - Northern CA Women's Herbal Symposium
at Black Oak Ranch in Laytonville, CA
Over 50 classes are offered by a variety of instructors throughout each session, including six four-hour intensives, covering many different aspects of Herbalism and sustainable lifestyles. Topics include: Aromatherapy, Ayurveda, Chinese Medicine, Flower Essences, Herb Walks, Herbal Crafts, Herbal Cultivation & Propagation, Magical Herbs, Herbal Treatments for Specific Disorders, Women's Health, and much more. Session 3 also offers Sustainable Living classes, including: Alternative Vehicle Fuels, Natural Building Techniques, Permaculture, Solar Energy, and much more.
general info and registration at website
womensherbalsymposium.org
Contact info:
PO Box 599 Sebastopol, CA 95473, tel. 707-824-1429
email NCWHS@monitor.net
Registration fee is $250-$350 sliding scale.
This fee includes all classes, meals, camping, and events.
There are a limited number of spaces for young women, ages 13-20,and Elders, ages 60 and over, at a special rate of $100 if needed. Children 12 and under are free.
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May 28 - 31, 2010
2nd Weekend
Memorial Day

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PRIMITIVE TECHNOLOGIES WORKSHOPS
May 28-31
NCWHS Northern CA Women's Herbal Symposium
near Laytonville, CA
Workshops taught by Tamara:
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July 18-19, 2009


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PRIMITIVE TECHNOLOGY OVERVIEW WEEKEND
July 18-19, 2009
10am-5pm
at Polcum Springs,
near Laytonville, CA
Join us as we explore universal hunter gatherer skills
used by humans all around the world and spend some time learning basic and essential living skills through hands-on activities.
- Make fire with handdrill and bowdrill fire kits
- Process dogbane fiber and make string
- Learn how to make a netting shuttle and a knotted net
- Practice with hunting tools, including throwing rabbitsticks & spearthrowers, shooting bow & arrow,
and playing hoop & pole game
- Learn basic stone and woodworking techniques
through beadmaking, shaping
and polishing stone, and grinding nuts
- Experiment with some basic wild food identification
and food processing techniques
using stone mano & metate and mortar & pestle.
In this longer weekend format we will also have a chance to discuss a wide variety of other primitive technologies as well as some of the uses of local plants. This will be an incredible opportunity to move a step closer to self-sufficiency and to an understanding of how humans have survived for tens of thousands of years with primitive technologies (the first technologies) as their tools.
Saturday evening potluck campfire dinner.
Bring something home grown or gathered and we'll include
whatever other local food is available.
Sliding Scale:
$140 - $160 per person
Camping, Showers, Sat Dinner & Sun Breakfast included
Registration/Information:
Alison Pernell
Polcum Springs
P.O. Box 59
Laytonville, CA 95454
email Alison
707-972-1364
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THIRD ROCK RANCH near Willits, CA
Location: Third Rock Ranch,
west of Willits on Sherwood Rd (Third Gate)
Sue Morganti email (707) 841-0341. Please call with any questions.
To register:
Please make checks out to Sue Morganti and send to
Sue Morganti, P. O. Box 887, Willits CA, 95490.
A 50% minimum deposit reserves your place in the workshop.
Please pre-register so we can prepare ahead of time.
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June 12-13, 2010

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BRAINTANNING BUCKSKIN
June 12-13
near Willits, CA
Braintanned buckskin is a beautiful, soft, durable, and washable leather which is made using the same natural, non-toxic, and biodegradable methods employed by most Native American groups.
In this two day class, participants will partake in the whole processfrom scraping the hide to smoking the softened buckskin. The group will tan one deer hide for every four people and, if all goes well, each person should take home about quarter of a finished buckskin.
COST:
$140
(includes seminar, Saturday dinner,
materials and overnight camping)
THIRD ROCK RANCH class
(see info above)
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August 21-22, 2010

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ANIMAL PROCESSING OVERVIEW
August 21-22
near Willits, CA
Topics: killing, bleeding, skinning, gutting, gut processing
(heart, liver, kidney, intestine, stomach, bladder), brain extraction & preservation, jaw & tongue extraction, meat cutting & preservation, fat rendering,
brothmaking, sausage making,
hoof and sinew extraction,
making hide glue
& skin preservation
(does NOT include hide tanning)
COST:
$150
(includes seminar, Saturday dinner,
materials and overnight camping)
THIRD ROCK RANCH class
(see info above)
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NOT-SO-SIMPLE LIVING FAIR:
Practical Skills for Tough Times
July 31 & August 1, 2010
at Mendocino County Fairgrounds in Boonville, CA
A two day event to develop and share skills, knowledge, and experience for rural living.
Schedule to be announced
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July 31 & August 1, 2010

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TANNING PRESENTATION
July 31 & August 1
Not-So-Simple Living Fair
in Boonville, CA
Full workshop and presentation schedule to be announced.
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KNOTTED NETMAKING WORKSHOP
Saturday or Sunday,
September 18 or 19, 2010
2 hr workshop during fair
(Apple Hall)
in Boonville, CA
please check back for confirmed day and time
California Wool & Fiber Festival
Mendocino County Fair & Apple Show
Mendocino County Fairgrounds, Commercial Building
$40 (+ materials fee) = $45-$65
$5 (shuttle & measure MUST be returned at end of workshop)
or $25 (includes handmade netting shuttle & measure to take home and continue working)
The art & craft of tying knots to create a net out of string is a universal human skill that stretches around the world. Knotted nets are used for fishing, hammocks, hair nets, capes, bags and much more. Learn & perfect the basic sequence used to "throw" a sheet bend quickly and efficiently using a provided shuttle & measure kit.
Info and downloadable
registration form: www.fiberfestival.com
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SOLAR LIVING INSTITUTE in Hopland, CA
707-744-2017
Solar Living Institute website
To register for a workshop by mail, print and fill out the registration form and
send it with payment (workshop fee plus $10 registration fee) to:
Solar Living Institute
13771 S. Hwy. 101
P. O. Box 836
Hopland, CA 95449
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INTRO TO PRIMITIVE TECHNOLOGY
OVERVIEW DAY WORKSHOP
Saturday,
November 13, 2010
10am - 4pm
$80
Solar Living Institute
in Hopland, CA
more info at Solar Living Institute website
Join us as we explore universal hunter gatherer skills used by humans all around the world. You will learn basic and essential living skills through the following hands-on activities:
- Make fire with handdrill and bowdrill fire kits
- Process dogbane fiber and make string
- Practice with hunting tools, including throwing rabbitsticks & spearthrowers, shooting bow & arrow, and playing hoop & pole game
- Learn basic stone and woodworking techniques through beadmaking, shaping and polishing stone, and grinding pine nuts.
You will also have a chance to see examples of a wide variety of other primitive technologies. Move a step closer to self-sufficiency and to an understanding of how humans have survived for thousands of years with primitive technology.
SOLAR LIVING INSTITUTE class
(see info above)
click here for photos of fall 2009 workshop
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MAPOM (Miwok Archaeological Preserve of Marin)
"California Indian Skills" Seminar Series
Kule Loklo, Point Reyes National Seashore, Pt. Reyes, CA
NOTICE: Spring MAPOM workshops will not be happening this year.
Look for one or two of the topics listed below in the Fall 2010.
Please check back or sign up for email notification of scheduled classes.
For more info/to register for Pt Reyes classes:
Contact Janice at 415-491-0401,
check their website: www.mapom.org or email: info@mapom.org
or write: MAPOM PO Box 481 Novato, CA 94948
Annual membership of $20 ($10 first time students) required for registration in workshop.
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NOTICE:
Spring MAPOM workshops will not be happening this year.
One of these topics will be scheduled for Fall 2010

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BRAINTANNING BUCKSKIN $110
MAPOM workshop schedule suspended until Fall 2010
(Pt. Reyes National Seashore, CA)
Braintanned buckskin is a beautiful, soft, durable, and washable leather which is made using the same natural, non-toxic, and biodegradable methods employed by most Native American groups.
In this two day class, participants will partake in the whole processfrom scraping the hide to smoking the softened buckskin. The group will tan one deer hide for every four people and, if all goes well, each person should take home about quarter of a finished buckskin.
MAPOM class (see info above)
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NOTICE:
Spring MAPOM workshops will not be happening this year.
One of these topics will be scheduled for Fall 2010

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STRINGMAKING & NETMAKING
$75
MAPOM workshop schedule suspended until Fall 2010
(Pt. Reyes National Seashore, CA)
The knowledge of how to make string is one of the most basic and important of human life skills. Cordage (string & rope) has been used by humans for ages as a tool in fishing and hunting, for carrying burdens, constructing shelters, in textiles, for tying bundles of possessions together, and so on.
Plants that yield good fiber will be identified and discussed while participants learn and practice fiber extraction and processing methods. Techniques of plying the fibers into cord will then be explored. Time permitting, we will also cover knotted netting using supplied netting shuttles & measures. Participants in the Uses of the Deer class can apply the principles learned to twist their processed sinew fiber into cord.
MAPOM class (see info above)
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NOTICE:
Spring MAPOM workshops will not be happening this year.
One of these topics will be scheduled for Fall 2010
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FIREMAKING $75
MAPOM workshop schedule suspended until Fall 2010
(Pt. Reyes National Seashore, CA)
Make fire by friction with your own hand drill firemaking kit made from local native materials. Both hand drill and bow drill techniques will be explored and you will have ample opportunity to practice making fire.
Time permitting, we will try other firemaking techniques and discuss fire building and uses of fire.
MAPOM class (see info above)
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NOTICE:
Spring MAPOM workshops will not be happening this year.
One of these topics will be scheduled for Fall 2010


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FAMILY DAY
Living Skills Overview
$50/family
+ $5 materials fee/person
MAPOM workshop schedule suspended until Fall 2010
(Pt. Reyes National Seashore, CA)
A hands-on introduction to ancient living skills for kids & parents alike.
Make a necklace from sticks, seeds and stones:
- drill holes in soapstone with sticks spun between the hands
- grind pine nuts into beads
- make string from natural fibers
Additional activities include:
- making fire by friction (weather conditions permitting)
- throwing and shooting a variety of hunting weapons like spearthrowers (atlatls), bow & arrows and rabbitsticks
- playing hoop & pole and black walnut dice games
Parents need to be present with their children to help the program run smoothly, and besides you can then join in the fun:).
Ages 8-14.
MAPOM class (see info above)
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NOTICE:
Spring MAPOM workshops will not be happening this year.
One of these topics will be scheduled for Fall 2010
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UTILITARIAN USES
OF THE DEER
MAPOM workshop schedule suspended until Fall 2010(Pt. Reyes National Seashore, CA)
$75 (+$15 materials fee) = $90
For traditional peoples, animals that are depended upon for food also offer a virtual hardware store of other essential materials. With the lower legs of deer providing our raw material, we will explore methods of processing animal products into useful items. Particulars that are not actually done in class will be discussed and many finished items will be available for viewing. Projects will include skinning, boneworking, hoof removal, and, time permitting, sinew processing. People particularly interested in making a good string out of their processed sinew fiber are encouraged to take the Cordage seminar.
MAPOM class (see info above)
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NOTICE:
Spring MAPOM workshops will not be happening this year.
One of these topics will be scheduled for Fall 2010


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EARTH PIGMENTS & NATURAL BINDERS
MAPOM workshop schedule suspended until Fall 2010
$75 (+$30 materials fee) = $105
Explore the preparation and use of mineral pigments like yellow & red ochre, some non-mineral paints, and natural binding materials like hide glue & egg yolk. We will make and decorate objects made of wood, bone and hide, and you should take home some sort of simple paint container.
MAPOM class
(see info above)
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PALEOTECHNICS
Steven Edholm & Tamara Wilder
PO Box 876 Boonville, CA 95415
707-391-8683
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