Random Paleolithic Ponderings
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| I made this display a couple years ago for
use in my Stone Age Skills programs. Jeff Gottlieb of NY made the large
awl (I decorated it). |
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| If you are fortunate enough to find some
native sulfur, throw some sparks on it using percussion fire-making. It
will light without any further assistance. Just don’t absent-mindedly
inhale the fumes as I did! |
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| The torch is made of bamboo and a cattail
head. Note the well (partial internode) that the cattail sits in—it is
full of olive oil. I have subsequently used rendered bear fat
successfully (thanks Sue!). |
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| I was teaching a Throwing Sticks class in
the Olympic Peninsula of WA. This girl had a great, focused stance! |
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| I took these negative-image photos on the
western coast of the Olympic Peninsula of WA, near Wedding Rocks and the
Ozette (Makah Nation) Village archaeological site. These petroglyphs are
300-500 years old. |
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| Since knapping damages my wrists, I’ve
taken to using quartz crystals, that I find, in a variety of ways—as
drill points, burins and bone/rock/shell scorers. |
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| Stone Oil/Fat Lamps |
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| Thanks to Ken Wee for sending me the
marcasite and flint striker. Green, fresh mugwort (Artemisia suksdorfii)
leaves will smolder via percussion firestarting. |
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| The Birch Polypore will also smolder... |
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| Speaking of fungi, this slab of Artist’s
Conk (Ganoderma applanatum) makes a great hearthboard for bow drill and
hand drill. In fact, this mushroom will work better than a lot of woods!
One of my most enjoyable hand drill experiences occurred while I was
using a 3.5-foot mullein spindle on this fungal hearthboard. I was
demonstrating the phenomenon in front of the Puget Sound Mycological
Society! |
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| My favorite bow drill handhold. I picked
up this unaltered rock on the beaches of Pescadero, CA. It lasted
through a couple thousand (literally—see my Bow Drill article) ember
attempts and is the most useful, longest-lasting, most reliable tool
I’ve ever possessed. Even though I’ve given up bow drill in deference to
the in-every-way-possible superiority of the hand drill, I kept this
rock. I love it almost as much as I love Mr. Bunny… |
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| In my quest to try everything, I have made
bow drill embers on rock. I picked up this rock the same day I found the
above-mentioned bow drill handhold. This rock belongs to the Tafoni
Geology Complex of the Monterey Formation. Scott Kuipers and I report
success using bone hearthboards, and there is ethnographic evidence of
Aleuts using ivory. Try everything. That is the only way we are going to
grow… |
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"A firestart was made from a large unworked
chunk of granite or other hard stone. It has a
pitted surface consisting of a series of small holes
1 to 2 inches in diameter by 5/32 to 1/2 inch
deep....Small chips of wood or wood dust were placed
in a hole. A hardwood stick was inserted, and by
rotating the stick rapidly a small smoldering fire
was generated."
- Dictionary of Prehistoric Indian Artifacts of the
American Southwest
(Franklin Barnett, 1973) |
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| View this article as a
PDF |
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