Prehistoric Woodworking Technology

This thesis investigates early medieval Irish woodcraft (AD 400-1100) to ask the questions: what is craft and what makes a craftsperson? Over the past few decades numerous wooden items have been recovered from this period in Ireland, thus providing an opportunity to gain an insight into the crafts represented and draw out the related themes of skill, specialisation and status. Interpretations relating to woodcraft are based on 1,607 wooden artefacts collated during this project, sourced from past archaeological investigations of rural secular sites from across Ireland. These objects were mostly recovered from wet anaerobic conditions that allowed for the preservation of organic materials. Specific focus has been given to wooden vessels (e.g. buckets, kegs and bowls) of different manufacturing technologies (i.e. stave-built, carved and turned) which highlighted differences in material selection and skills required to make these objects; even within the same manufacturing technology. This focus allowed for the question to be asked, what is craft, but also to what extent can the material remains recovered provide a clearer perspective on the relationship between the production of wooden objects, the people who made them and the society within which they worked.

Early medieval Ireland (A.D. 400-1100) was an intensely organic world, with pottery less visible in the archaeological record than during other periods, making wood the main material used for vessel manufacture. The significance of wooden vessels is exemplified in the Early Irish Laws, which suggested woodworking and woodworkers had distinct categories with variations of social status based on specialisation; from the lowly bowl turner to the high status yew-worker. Modern archaeological investigations have provided a large corpus of effectively recorded and classified material to examine. However, when evidence for woodworking has been recovered, it has lacked further analysis and interpretation. Rather, wooden artefacts are often limited to finds lists, hidden in grey literature or larger appendices. Therefore, this has left archaeological data and discussion on wooden material spread across many sources.

This project collates the data and discussion on evidence for woodworking and wooden artefacts using both existing and new assemblages. Part of this project explores how people made, used, and deposited wooden objects, in particular, exploring how the processes of repairing and recycling communicate a unique treatment of objects less frequently discussed. This project, also investigates woodworkers’ impact on the rural economy and explores the possibility of an Irish woodcraft ‘tradition’. In addition, this project investigates the concept of craft through the use of contemporary early medieval contexts, historical literature, and modern sources (experimental archaeology and ethnoarchaeology) and its relation to wood and woodcraft, and their role within societies and cultures.