Monaco museum brings Neolithic craft skills to life
By Zak Jackson, MonacoViews Editorial
The Musée d'Anthropologie Préhistorique de Monaco ran a three-day workshop from 22 to 24 July, teaching visitors flint-knapping and hide-working techniques from the Neolithic period.
The Musée d'Anthropologie Préhistorique, tucked into the Jardin Exotique district, gave visitors a hands-on introduction to prehistoric craft over three days this week, running workshops on flint-knapping and animal-hide preparation using methods faithful to the original techniques.
Participants quickly discovered that Neolithic skills demand considerable precision. Shaping flint into a usable tool or preparing a hide by hand is, as instructors made clear, far more technically demanding than it appears - a point that tends to land with force the moment you pick up a stone and try it yourself.
The event reflects a broader push by the museum to move beyond display cases and bring its collections to life for a general audience. For Monaco residents and visitors passing through in late July, it offered a rare chance to engage directly with the Principality's deep prehistoric heritage - the museum's collections span hundreds of thousands of years of human presence along this stretch of the Mediterranean coast.