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Hi Maria I have done this with students as part of a class. Woodworking tools and techniques are ideal - if you want to turn up with ready made artefacts then powertools will be a great help, but if you want to go 'authentic' and/or want to work on the bones when you are at the fair then of course hand tools would be better. Wood carving kits are good for doing decoration. It is surprisingly difficult to make items if you are not a skilled woodworker so start with something simple like a pin or a dice or a domino. Combs are really difficult! Boiling for a couple of hours will help to clean the bones and stop them going mouldy. Remove all marrow - so saw longbones open before you boil and remove as much as possible. (it is edible of course but that is up to you). This leaves less material to remove during boiling. Use the bones when still wet, as they will be much less brittle and much easier to work when they have been boiled/soaked. Fiona Fiona Beglane PhD Animal Bone Specialist Licensed Archaeologist Donegal, Ireland Alternate email address: [log in to unmask] Institute of Technology, Sligo http://itsligo.academia.edu/fionabeglane Upcoming international conference: www.archaeologyofgatherings.com >________________________________ > From: MARIA GARDINER <[log in to unmask]> >To: [log in to unmask] >Sent: Monday, September 9, 2013 10:29 AM >Subject: [ZOOARCH] bone tools > > > >Hello everyone > >I have been asked to produce some bone tools for display, and possible use, at a woodcraft fair to be held in two weeks' time at which a local archaeology group is holding demonstrations. > >I've never done this before and the internet is not proving helpful, so I hope that some of you will provide me with some advice on how to go about it. I'll probably be using bones from the butcher, so I guess the first question is: do I boil up the bones or otherwise sterilise them before I do anything? What tools do I use? etc. > >I am a total beginner, so any advice at all will be welcome. > >Thank you. > >Maria >(Brighton and Hove Arch. Soc) > > >