Neolithic Pottery Workshop and Talk with Dr Rick Peterson at Clitheroe Castle

Pottery was first made in Britain 6000 years ago in the Neolithic period. If you were a hunter-gatherer or an early farmer, how do you think making and using pottery would change how you lived?

As part of the Festival of Archaeology join Dr Rick Peterson from the University of Central Lancashire for a pottery workshop and find out how this new material would have had a radical effect on how people lived their lives.

The session will start with a short introduction to the period and what the pottery looks like and was used for. After a chance to handle replicas of distinctive round-based Neolithic carinated bowls, participants will be set a challenge. Each participant will be given a supply of clay and some instructions to work on the challenge. How would you make a pot with a rounded bottom?

With help from experienced potters and archaeologists, attendees will spend the workshop making their own bowl. The team will support the participants as they work and will also provide demonstrations of key techniques. At the end of the session participants will get to keep the pot that they made.

Dr Peterson teaches on modules across archaeology and cultural anthropology, with a focus on prehistory and archaeological fieldwork. His primary research interests are the Holocene prehistory of caves and Neolithic pottery. Rick has directed major excavation projects all over Britain. At the moment, he is particularly interested in the agency of artefacts, natural places and the environment. This is reflected in his recent and current fieldwork projects in the Forest of Bowland and the Yorkshire Dales and his 2019 book Neolithic Cave Burials: agency, structure and environment, which was published by Manchester University Press.

This session is aimed at adults and young people 13yrs + This session is £5 per person and includes the pot to take home and a free pass to visit the museum (you will receive your free pass on arrival to be used within 30 days). The session lasts approximately 1.5hrs. Doors open 5.30 for a 6pm start. Booking essential. Book online here.

For full details of opening times and events at Clitheroe Castle Museum visit http://tiny.cc/ClitheroeCastleMuseum

Clitheroe Castle Museum is managed by Lancashire County Council's Museum Service on behalf of Ribble Valley Borough Council.