Prehistoric woodworking

Most of the diachronic studies of settlement structure and density tend to argue about the limits in prehistoric resourcemanagement.
Wood is by far the most important of the non-food materials in question. Pre-Iron Age periods are commonly
labelled as primitive and rural. This narrative is put to the test in this article.
After a brief account of all the available data on the ecology of Late Bronze Age eastern Bavaria, new data from Atting-
“Aufeld”, district of Straubing-Bogen, is brought into the discussion (almost 900 wood fragments and 2800 botanical
finds). Then some estimates regarding the amount of fuelwood and timber for production and building needed across all
economic activities in every single Urnfield culture household are given. At this time, wood was essential in more fields
than just cooking, heating and construction. There is evidence for intensive use of wood in ritual too, e.g. burial and
certain types of sacrifice.
The state of research for the Urnfield culture in eastern Bavaria and the district of Straubing-Bogen is very good. Longterm
fieldwork, comprising surveys and rescue excavations and a reasonable corpus of published graves and dwellings
provide data which allow us to re-asses the area needed for agriculture and forestry in prehistoric times. The distribution
of contemporary settlements seems to get denser around 1000 BC and the sizes of the dwellings increase. This
demographic explosion is even more apparent when considering the graves. The semi-quantitative analysis of the 3700
graves dating between Bz D and Ha B recovered in the Upper Palatinate and Lower Bavaria shows a definitive rise in
the number of cremated individuals in the latter part of the period. If one puts all this evidence together, it suggests that
deforestation could have been an issue at the beginning of the 1st millennium BC. For these reasons, I propose the possibility
of fully planned prehistoric forest management, or maybe even log driving, before the onset of iron technology.
As far as archaeology goes, many questions remain concerning the investigation of prehistoric features. These can be
answered by physical geography (more data on colluvia), biology (detailed data on pollensums, physical anthropology,
anthracology, tree-ring analysis, archaeozoology and so on) and other related fields (ethnology, experimental archaeology).
The reconstruction of prehistoric landuse and exploitation patterns will greatly profit from future collaborations.

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.

When a tool transforms wood, a moment in time is preserved, a scar is left behind on the new surface. Once a tool is cast and hammered, a distinctive blade is set. The tool’s usage causes damage in the form of chipping or beveling along the blade’s edge, adding to its character. A unique signature is created when this damage is transferred in the form of striation running along the surface of the single toolmark or facet. Many gaps remain in the understanding of facet composition especially when changes occur to the tool’s blade edge.  A better understanding of the lifecycle of blades once resharpening occurs is necessary. Sharpening is the least random of the changes which can occur to a blade over its lifetime because it is an intentional process which would be expected from the user. A greater knowledge of the characteristics associated with facets before and after sharpening will add to the signature matching process. The project is broken up into four chapters. Chapter one includes the goals of this project and a look at the history and background of toolmark research. Chapter two focuses on both recording and analytical methods in relation to toolmarks with practical consideration for what might be considered the best of these methods. Chapter three takes an in-depth look at the effects of blade sharpening on the toolmarks of Bronze Age axes through the use of experimental and experiential archaeology.  Chapter four takes a look at the next steps in toolmark analysis based on the knowledge gathered from this project.

WOODWORKING IN THE MIDDLE PALAEOLITHIC. METHODOLOGICAL AND HISTORIOGRAPHICAL APPROACHES ON THE OPEN AIR SITE NAHAL MAHANAYEEM OUTLET (ISRAEL).
RESUME
L’étude d’une collection israélienne de bois gorgés d’eau provenant d’un site archéologique du Paléolithique Moyen final, Nahal Mahanayeem Outlet, a nécessité un travail historiographique et méthodologique préalable. C’est le sujet de ce présent mémoire qui traite en premier lieu du contexte chrono-culturel du Paléolithique moyen au Levant et des problématiques issues de cette aire géo-chronologique. Cette synthèse met en lumière les résultats préliminaires obtenus sur le site archéologique, NMO, suite à quoi, la question du travail du bois est abordée en détails. Un résumé des découvertes de bois travaillés est présenté pour les sites du Paléolithique ancien et moyen. Il s’agit de témoins directs dont les informations sont complétées par une synthèse des travaux tracéologiques sur le matériel lithique moustérien. Ces deux types d’informations permettent d’exposer l’état des connaissances concernant le travail du bois au Paléolithique Moyen. La collection de NMO est ensuite comparée à l’assemblage de bois gorgés d’eau découvert sur le site acheuléen, Gesher Benot Ya’qov, de la vallée du Jourdain. Suite à ce tour de la question des informations sont mises à disposition pour problématiser la collection des bois gorgés d’eau de NMO. Un cadre méthodologie est exposé en dernière partie afin de déterminer les différents protocoles d’étude à mettre en place en master 2.

Woodworking in the Middle Palaeolithic. Methodological and historiographical approaches on the open air site Nahal Mahanayeem Outlet (Israel).
ABSTRACT
This Master thesis is about the study of an archaeological assemblage of waterlogged woods at the recent Middle Palaeolithic site, Nahal Mahanayeem Outlet, located in Israel. Firstly, we introduce the levantine Middle Palaeolithic’s chrono-cultural background and this overview sheds light on the NMO’s studies. Secondly, we present the case of woodworking through all the wood’s discovery in the Lower and Middle Palaeolithic sites and the knowledge of the wooworking by the use-wear studies. Then, the NMO’s assemblage is compared with the Gesher Benot Ya’aqov lower palaeolithic site. which also has waterlogged woods conserved in the sediments. The whole overview allows to lay the foundations of an understanding of the NMO’s wood assemblage. Finally, a methodological framework is exposed in the last part in anticipation of the collection study in a master 2.

Interview at Science Update after the publication of the article in PLoS on Neolithic water wells. The original article can be found here: https://www.academia.edu/2311012/Early_Neolithic_Water_Wells_Reveal_the_Worlds_Oldest_Wood_Architecture