Primitive Technology

  PRIMITIVE TECHNOLOGY

  PRIMITIVE TECHNOLOGY

  A Book of Earth Skills

  From the Society of Primitive Technology

  Edited by David Wescott

  SALT LAKE CITY

  02 01 65 4

  Copyright 1999 by The Society of Primitive Technology

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced by any means whatsoever, either mechanical, electronic or digital, without written permission from the publisher, except brief excerpts quoted for purposes of review.

  Published by

  Gibbs Smith, Publisher

  P.O. Box 667

  Layton, Utah 84041

  Web site: www.gibbs-smith.com

  Design by David Wescott

  The articles in this book are reprinted from issues 1-10 of the Bulletin of Primitive Technology. The publisher bears no responsibility for their accuracy or content. Neither the publisher or editor bear responsibility for the results of any project described herein or for the reader's safety during participation. Caution and common sense are recommended for every activity.

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Primitive technology a book of earthskills / edited by David

  Wescott

  p. cm.

  Selection of articles from the Bulletin of primitive technology,

  issues 1-10

  ISBN 0-87905-911-7

  1. Industries, Prehistoric, 2. Archaeology–Experiments.

  3. Archaeology–Methodology. I. Wescott. Daved, 1948- .

  II. Bulletin of primitive technology.

  GN429.P75 1999

  930.1–dc21

  98-54428

  CIP

  Contents

  * * *

  Foreword

  Section 1- Primitive Technology

  What Is Experimental Archaeology – Errett Callahan

  The Society of Primitive Technology and Experimental Archaeology - David Wescott

  Sheltered In Prehistory – Steve Watts

  Why Build Traditional Houses Today?– John White

  NA House Reconstruction Projects

  More Than Just A Shelter - Susan Eirich-Dehne

  Caddo House Reconstruction - Scooter Cheatham

  Section 2- FIRE - Where We Begin

  The Miracle of Fire By Friction – Dick Baugh

  Fire – Norm Kidder

  Understanding Wood Fire – Mors Kochanski

  The Hand-drill and Other Fires – David Wescott

  Tips For Hand-drill Fire Makers - Paul Schweighardt

  The Goysich Hand-drill – Jim Allen

  Experiments With The Hand-drill – Evard Gibby

  Pump-drill Fires – Anthony Follari

  Tinder Bundle Construction - Charles Worsham

  Polypore Fugi Fire Extenders - R. Allen Mounier

  Where There Is No Tinder – E. J. Pratt

  Primitive Match - David Holladay

  Section 3- BONE, STONE & WOOD – Basic Elements

  First Tools - David Wescott

  Bone Working Basics - Steve Watts

  Bone Splitting Tips – Steve Watts

  An Exercise With Bone - David Holladay

  Split Rib-Bone Knives – Steve Watts

  From The Leg Of The Deer – Roy H. Brown

  Mat Needles – Chris Morasky

  Making a Reduced Antler Flaker – Steven Edholm

  Antler Billet – Chas.Spear

  Selecting Bone Working Materials - David Wescott

  Knife Hafting Ideas – Chas. Spear

  Stages of Manufacture - Errett Callahan

  Stone Tool Basics – Steve Watts

  Principle of Uniformity - David Wescott

  Experimental Reprodution of Prehistoric Sickles –Manuel Luque Cortina & Javier Baena Preysler

  Knapping Illustrated – Chas. Spear

  Hands-Free Vice & Primitive Switch Blade Knife –George Stewart

  Basketmaker Knife – David Holladay

  Drilling Stone – Larry Kinsella

  Celts and Axes – Errett Callahan

  Personal Notes On Celt Use – Larry Kinsella

  Manufacture of Ground Stone Axes – Paul Hellweg

  Greenstone Woodworking Tools – Scott Silsby

  Knapping Tools – Steve Watts

  Peek Into The Past – Steve Allely

  Functional Motions – Errett Callahan

  WoodWorking Basics - David Wescott

  Shaving Horse - Douglas Macleod

  The Roycroft Pack Frame – Dick Baugh

  Manufacture of Thrusting Spears - Steve Watts

  Bullroarers – Tom Hackett

  Carving Green Wood - Gregg Blomberg

  A Hafted Adze - George Price

  Section 4- FIBERS –Holding The World Together

  Gathering and Preparing Plant Fibers –David Wescott

  Rediscovering Flax – Evard Gibby

  Agave Fibers – Michael Ryan

  Agave Fiber Preparation – David Holladay

  Retting Basswood Bark – Scott Silsby

  Cordage – Steven Edholm and Tamara Wilder

  Tumplines, Carrying Bags and Belts – Alice Tulloch

  Netting Notes – Steve Watts

  Pomo Netting – Craig Bates

  Dogbane Net – Jeff Gottlieb

  Swamp Dancers – Doug Elliott

  Cattail Visor – Star Compost

  Cattail Dolls – Mors Kochanski

  The Versitile Tule – Jim Riggs

  Tule Ethnobotany – Norm Kidder

  Split Willow Sculpture – Thomas Elpel

  Plaited Yucca Sandals – Paul Campbell

  Make Your Own Hide Glue – Jim Riggs

  Mummy Varnish, Spruce Gum and Other Sticky Stuff – Scott Silsby

  Making Pitch Sticks – Evard Gibby

  A Word On Pitch – Errett Callahan

  About Animal Glues – Errett Callahan

  Section 5- PROJECTILES – Power From The Human Hand

  Thong-Thrown Arrows and Spears – Tim Baker

  Throwing Darts With The Baton de Commandement – Paul Comstock

  Atlatls: Throwing for Distance - Craig Ratzat

  Primitive Hunting Equipment – Scooter Cheatham

  Reconstructing A Generic Basketmaker Atlatl - David Wescott

  Primitive Hunting Equipment – Scooter Cheatham

  Throwing Atlatl Darts - Photos

  Throwing Stick Patterns

  Hand-Thrown Projectiles - Intro

  Throwing Sticks – Scooter Cheatham

  The Non-Returning Boomerang – Errett Callahan

  Using Natural Wood Elbows - By Ray Rieser

  Tuning and Throwing - Robert Foresi

  Making Throw Sticks Behave - Norm Kern

  Section 6- ART & MUSIC –Discipline and Meaning

  The Music of Prehistory – Laurence Libin

  Paint With Pride – Doug Land

  ABO Art Supplies – Steve Watts

  Aboriginal Airbrush – Wylie Woods

  Musical Glossary – David Wescott

  Bone Flutes – Manuel Lizaralde

  Ziarian Rattle - Robert Withrow

  Musical Instruments of Central California - Norm Kidder

  Removing The Hooves of Deer – Tamara Wilder

  Deer Hoof Rattles - Norm Kidder

  Gadgets and Geegaws - David Wescott

  Section 7- Appendix

  The Hazards of Roadkill - Alice Tulloch

  Ethics For Modern

  “Primitives” - Alice Tulloch

  Cover photo by Mike Peters

  * * *

  The 1996 Editorial Board of the Society of Primitive Technology who authorized publication of Primitive Technology: (clockwise from left rear) Mar
garet Mathewson (OR); Managing Editor, David Wescott (ID); Vice Presidents, Maria Louise Sidoroff (NJ) and Scooter Cheatham (TX); Treasurer, Jack Cresson (NJ); Jim Riggs (OR); Founding President, Errett Callahan (VA); and current President, Steve Watts (NC);

  'Foreword

  * * *

  * * *

  THE SOCIETY IS FOUNDED

  During the weekend of November 11-12, 1989, ten leaders in the field of experiential primitive skills gathered around the fire at the Schiele Museum's Center for Southeastern Native American Studies in Gastonia, North Carolina to organize a new national organization — The Society of Primitive Technology.

  Conceived by Dr. Errett Callahan, pioneering reconstructive archaeologist and director of Piltdown Productions in Lynchburg, Virginia; the society seeks to promote the practice and teaching of aboriginal skills, foster communication between teachers and practitioners and set standards for authenticity, ethics and quality.

  * * *

  * * *

  In his book, Ever Expanding Horizons, Carl Swanson notes; “The linkage between biological and cultural evolution is an arena entered only at some considerable risk because it is middle ground”. This is the same feeling we had when we established the Society of Primitive Technology; we were attempting to reach a middle ground.

  Coming to a balanced consensus between scientists, teachers, practitioners and experiential learners is no simple task. However, Swanson has led us to an understanding of the similarities within the family of man and has founded these similarities in what he calls “sociogenes”, identifying those ideas that mature into shared concepts and interact with the expressed information encoded in DNA. After all, for 99% of human history our ancestors shared a technological phase called the stone age. We all have sticks and rocks in common.

  He looked upon us as sophisticated children- smart but not wise. We knew many things, and much that is false. He knew nature, which is always true.

  Saxton Pope, Ishi_In_Two_Worlds

  Why Primitive

  The very word has come, to many, to connote brutishness or backwardness. That is only one interpretation of a very formative word. Look at the dictionary definition:

  primitive (prim'e-tiv)-1a. Of or pertaining to an earliest or original stage or state. b. Archetypal. 2. Characterized by simplicity or crudity; unsophisticated: primitive weapons 3. Of or pertaining to early stages in the evolution of human culture: primitive societies.

  The negative words that stand out are crudity and unsophisticated. But when we look closer at these words used to define “primitive”, the definition of the word takes on a new light.

  sophisticate (se-fis'-ti-kat) - 1. to cause to become less natural or simple; especially to make less naive; make worldly wise. 2. to corrupt or pervert; adulterate; no longer pure. 3. to make more complex or inclusive. GREEK- sophistikos-from. -ed- having acquired worldly knowledge or refinement;lacking natural simplicity or naivite. -sohistry- a plausable but misleading or fallacious argument; faulty reasoning.

  I, for one, would much rather be labeled primitive than sophisticated. Primitive implies first not worst. When looking at the degree of understanding and mastery of manipulation of simple materials to solve complex problems, we moderns have no advantage over those who, by design, choose to live a simpler life.

  As our technological society rushes headlong to its dubious future, a new interest in primitive peoples has sprung to life... There have been thousands of societies on this planet and some of them hold secrets that we could well learn from. It is those secrets we are looking for. The challenge of the Primitives

  Why Technology

  Many of the skills and methods presented in this text come from years of trial and error and personal discoveries by the authors. The benefit to you is that many secrets have been unlocked and are available through this collection of ideas and techniques. It is not our intent to give you shortcuts to what it may have taken decades for others to perfect, but merely guides to show you where they've been and how you can follow. As you can see, this book is not just a skills book. The technologies that are included are here to help you go through some of the same evolution as those who teach them. Listen to their words, and discover the process, not just the product.

  The rediscovery of traditional skills and technologies brings a deeper appreciation for the people, places, and spirit of the times that laid the foundation of what we know today as a “lifestyle”. The mastery of primitive skills comprises two factors - the method and the technique. The method is in the mind; the technique in the hands. Method is the logical manner of systematic and orderly processes, using a preconceived plan. Technique is the application of method (Crabtree). You have the mental capacity to grasp many of these universal principles without much effort due to the inheritance of thousands of years of experience. Unfortunately the last few hundred years have caused us to atrophy, as “lifestyle” has allowed technology to take over many of the very tasks that shaped us (We need to recognize that it is not the tool, but the inappropriate or overuse of the tool that has put us in this fix. There is nothing wrong with technology, more simply it is the inappropriate use of technology or the proliferation of inappropriate technology). It will take effort on your part to regain the skill and technique needed to master some of these arts, but isn't that the challenge?

  Primitive skills move the technologist out of the realm of ideas and theory, into a realm of function and habit. If you're embarrassed by the idea of “doing the primitive thing”, because it isn't modern or scientific, think about it for a minute. Our sciences and discoveries have made us masters of time and place. We have developed incredible technologies, yet we can never sever those indelible connections we have to our past.. We have been to the moon and returned. And what was the first thing we brought back rock David Wescott, Editor

  * * *

  Honoring Our Shared Heritage

  By Steve Watts

  “I am a human being, nothing human can be alien to me.” Terance (154BC)

  “Drawn near to the fires of aboriginal skills, we look to the indigenous peoples of the world for inspiration and insight. From the Aborigines of Australia's Western Desert…to their brothers in New Guinea and north and east throughout the Pacific to Southeast Asia and Old Polynesia…to the Ainu in the farthest reaches of Japan…to the Toda herdsmen of backcountry India…to the Berbers of the sand of North Africa and their black brethren to the south in the jungles and savannahs of the Mother Continent…to the Native Peoples of the Americas; in rain forests, woodlands, high deserts, and great plains…to the Inuits, Lapps, and Siberians of the frozen tundra…to all the custodians of unbroken lineages wherever they may be…Primitive Technology is their inheritance and we honor that here.

  Yet no one is from nowhere. The blood of our ancestors flows in our own veins. Our aboriginal legacy is written in the very make-up of our bodies. The ancient caves and campfires of our pasts call to us from within. Primitive Technology is our inheritance as well. It is a world heritage which knows no race, creed, or color. It is foreign to no one. It is the shared thread which links us to our prehistory and binds us together as human beings. That we honor above all.”

  * * *

  * * *

  Section 1

  Primitive Technology

  * * *

  WHAT IS EXPERIMENTAL ARCHEOLOGY?

  By Errett Callahan

  * * *

  Experimental archeology may be defined as “that branch of archeology which seeks to interpret material culture, technology, or lifeways of the past by means of structured, scientific experimentation: (Callahan ms: 87). Reconstructive archeology, closely akin to experimental archeology, involves “interpretation of material culture and technology by means of physical reconstruction, using either experiential (Level II) or experimental (Level III) means” (ibid.). Only the latter may be termed “experimental archeology. Level I projects, although attempts at reconstruction, may not lay claim to the term “reconstructive archeology”.
[See below for explanation of the three levels.]

  Experimental archeology started in the late 1800s, when a number of archeologists tried to duplicate the technologies they were finding evidence of in the soil. After this, experimentation went “out of style”until “rediscovered”in the 1960s by technologists such as Hans-Ole Hansen of Denmark. Hansen took it upon himself, as a teenager, to attempt an authentic reconstruction of a specific Neolithic house pattern (1962). This experiment gave rise, in time, to Hansen's prestigious Lejre Research Center in Lejre, Denmark. The center proved so popular that it was imitated all over Europe as projects in experimental archeology gained in popularity. It is still thriving there today.

  In the mid 1960s, flintknapper Don Crabtree and archeologist Francois Bordes started working together (1969) to show archeologists that experimental studies with stone tools were important to science. Flintknapping quickly evolved from a quaint hobby into the serious field of lithic technology.

  These studies inspired numerous technologists around the world to start taking experimental archeology seriously. College courses popped up all over and field school projects in experimental archeology appeared, mostly in the 1970s (DeHaas 1978, Reynolds 1979, Callahan 1976, 1981). For a detailed overview of who was doing what around the world, study John Coles' two synopses with care (1973, 1979). Survival schools also started gaining in popularity at this time, thanks largely to Larry Dean Olsen (1967). Although this was not experimental archeology, survival skills still involved many of the same primitive technologies which interested both groups.