PK Podcast 53: Theresa Emmerich Kamper On Traditional Tanning
Dr Theresa Emmerich Kamper has a PhD in experimental archaeology and over 25 years of experience in prehistoric skin tanning and clothing construction. Theresa is an internationally recognised specialist in this field and is an Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Exeter in the U.K.
Theresa’s expertise is far from being purely academic, though. Her skills and knowledge are eminently practical and in addition to her main area of expertise in tanning technologies and animal processing, Theresa also teaches and demonstrates a wide range of traditional living skills, in a variety of settings. Theresa is well known in bushcraft and traditional living skills communities.
Theresa is also becoming more widely known due to her television appearances on a number of shows, particularly Season 8 of Alone on History, a pay televistion network based in the USA. She was also part of the team of participants in the three part series Surviving The Stone Age on Channel 4, a British public-service television network, which first aired in the latter part of 2020.
Personally, I’ve done only a very small amount of tanning. When I first got involved, I found some of the processes confusing. Later, I found that some people were adamant it had to be done a certain way, while others had different, yet similarly adamant views. Also, I’m aware that beginners are confused by terms such as rawhide and buckskin as well as the seeming plethora of methods such as bark tanning, brain tanning, egg tanning, oil tanning and so on.
So, I thought, who better to ask about tanning than Dr Theresa Emmerich Kamper. It was a long time after I first tanned a skin that I felt I had a good overview of tanning clear in my head. This podcast will get you there much more quickly than I was able to. Theresa lays everything out very clearly and she certainly added to my knowledge yet again. You’ll learn a lot too, I’m sure. Plus, this was a breeze from my perspective. I just had to ask a few simple questions and let Theresa do the rest. Please enjoy the conversation with Dr Theresa Emmerich Kamper, which forms Episode 53 of the Paul Kirtley Podcast…
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Connect with Theresa Emmerich Kamper
https://www.theresaemmerich.com/Theresa Emmerich Kamper on Instagram
Theresa Emmerich Kamper on Facebook
People Mentioned In This Podcast
Books Mentioned In This Podcast
Determining Prehistoric Skin Processing Techologies
Sinews Of Survival
Our Boots
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4 thoughts on “PK Podcast 53: Theresa Emmerich Kamper On Traditional Tanning”
‘Had trouble on this site finding a working link not connected to a commercial provider. I ended up doing an open search on her name. I quickly scanned her book Looking for stitching/design. I would love to ask her in depth questions about stitching: design vs. strength vs. comfort. Thanks P&T!
Saving this for holiday once I’ve read my copy of Wilderness Axe Skills and Campcraft. Can’t wait!
🙂 I hope you enjoy both Matt. And have a great holiday too!
Warm regards,
Paul
Really great interview Paul!
Full of valuable and not easy to find infos about tanning.