|
|
|
|
Please visit the
Center for Experimental
Archaeology
|
 | Bow layout and design |
| Roughing out the stave |
| Tillering and bow weight |
| Shooting in |
| Finishing |
Students will begin with a seasoned stave and utilizing hand tools, transform it into a self bow suitable for hunting or target shooting. Wood selection, procurement, splitting and seasoning will be discussed.
There will be enough tools for each student to use, but students are encouraged to bring their own. The class will primarily use:
| drawknife |
| cabinet scrappers (pen knife will suffice) |
| spoke shave |
White woods, primarily hickory and ash are recommended for beginners. Students need to bring or purchase their own staves. Unique staves such as Osage orange and black walnut will be available for sale. Students are encouraged to place an order at the time of scheduling to ensure stave availability.
The goal of the weekend is to understand and experience all the steps of the self bow process, so the students can complete a bow on their own. Ideally, every student will complete their self bow over the 2 days, but this can not be guaranteed.
Believe it or not, primitive arrow building from scratch is just as difficult and time consuming as bow building. In this 2 day workshop, students will participate in all of the aspects of building an arrow from scratch -
| seasoning |
| straightening |
| scrapping and spining natural shafts such as southern arrow wood and red osure dogwood |
| making hide glue |
| making pine pitch |
| processing sinew |
| basic flintknapping |
Students will leave with a useable work of art suitable for the field or to
display on the wall.
So what happens after they get a coal using the hand drill method shown above?
In a 3 hour class, students will construct their own fire building kits and learn the basics of primitive fire building techniques. Focus will be on the hand drill, but bow drill and flint and steel fire building instruction will also be available.
Students will learn how to make cordage from materials available in the tri-state area during this 3 hour course. A variety of materials will be available to work with, such as dogbane, cattail, nettle, daylily, etc. Weaving techniques and uses of cordage will also be discussed.
Look what happens when you eat a persimmon before it's ripe!
Children's Level - This 2 hour
hands-on, walking tour will discuss numerous
topics:
|
Recognition of prevalent, poisonous plants |
|
Timing of harvest |
|
Safe, easily identifiable plants like cattails, which have multiple uses |
|
Uses of plants often found in suburban backyards |
Adult Level - This 3 hour hands-on, walking tour will include all the topics in the children's program, but they will be explored further. These courses will vary according to season. For example, a course in early spring will highlight the uses and identification of shoots and basal rosettes (day lily, dandelion, evening primrose, etc.), a theme that many identification guides do not address. Collection and preparation of edible plants will also be discussed.
This 2 day course will offer a whole new look on the outdoors for outdoor enthusiasts by focusing on the possible utilitarian aspects of local flora. While the edible aspects of many plants are evident, their many utilitarian uses are often overlooked or poorly understood. For example, while evening primrose and cattails are nutritious food sources, they have many other uses such as hand drills, cordage, insulation, mats and even floatation devices.
The first day will focus on the overall perspective of utilitarian uses of plants. A walking tour will be given that highlights the uses of local plants in a nontraditional manner.
A project-based approach will be taken on the second day, where participants will complete a project using natural materials. This may include, but is not limited to, arrow building, a fire making kit, etc.
Information to follow soon
|
Parkerscreek Primitive Technology Bill Schindler, Ph.D. (908) 627-1568
|
Click here to see some bow makers
in action!
