Bookings

Tutor: Chris Woodland
Saturday 27th April 2024
10.00am - 1.00pm
Price: £35
Number of spaces; 8

Learn about the archaeology of cordage materials and have a go at making some.

Although rarely preserved in the archaeological record, simple cordage was a crucial part of prehistoric everyday life. In this day and age, it is easy to take a simple piece of string for granted. In prehistory, the invention of cordage was a significant technological step. It allowed people to make everything from nets, ropes, bags and traps to storage vessels, complex structures and eventually, textiles.

Our ancestors had the knowledge of the natural world to provide the materials and the skill to make a variety of different cordage products.

In this introductory workshop, learn about the different natural materials we can make cordage from, where to find them, how and when to harvest and process them. We will look at a variety of natural fibres and how they were used in prehistory.

Most of the workshop will be hands-on, working with a number of different natural materials. We will process fibres and learn several different techniques to make them into cordage, depending on our needs.

If time allows, we may make our new cordage into some basic everyday objects, such as snares, fishing lines or simple looped containers.

About Chris
Chris Woodland is an experimental archaeologist and primitive skills practitioner. His broad skill set includes bow building, firecraft, fishing technologies, tanning, foraging, and working with a variety of prehistoric technologies. Most recently, he has returned from the Kierikki Stone Age Centre in Finland, having taught fire lighting, carving and cordage workshops there, as well as conducting experimental archaeology research on bowstrings. His workshops are complemented by his academic background in prehistoric archaeology. In-depth research goes into each workshop, tracing the origins of skills and knowledge back to our ancient ancestors.

He keeps his finger on the pulse of current research, studying for a masters degree at the University of York and conducting his own experimental archaeology projects, most recently a Stone Age bow, which you can read about here.