Making a Neolithic Thorn Flax Hackle
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- Опубликовано: 28 сен 2024
- In part three of my series on Prehistoric Textile Tools we look at the impressively prickly thorn hackling board.
The original tools being explored are from pile-dwelling sites in the circum-Alpine region and are from a time when flax is an important textile crop but many other fibres are still in use, woolly sheep do not develop until the early Bronze Age.
This video is part of a series made during my MSc dissertation in Experimental Archaeology at Exeter University.
I now have a 'buy me a coffee' page which helps fund my ongoing research and the making of these free videos. If you'd like to support me, please visit ko-fi.com/sall... Thank you!
A quick thought. If you dried the thorns by a fire until they were bone dry, and your paddle was moist, either green wood or soaked in water before you drill the holes, the thorns would almost never come out. they would absorb water from the wood and expand while the wood would lose moisture and contract. This has been used for ages to make furniture out of green wood. Some elements would be dried while others green so they equalize and strengthen the joints. a couple drops of beeswax on the back of each thorn bundle would also help hold everything together. not sure if that sort of thing has a lot of historical precedent, but it seem intuitive to me.
This type of experiment brings ancient people to life. It’s wonderful!
I have so enjoyed this series, I am sad it’s come to an end. It’s been a masterclass and so clearly presented that I am confident I can recreate these tools, given time. Thank you.
I'm sad it's over too, I love this stuff!
i just want to say i really appreciate you sharing your MSc work on here, it's incredibly fascinating to see as someone who does a lot of fabric work.
The sounds of the flax being drawn through the thorns of the hackle is actually kind of ASMR. It's auditorially interesting, yet soothing at the same time!
that fact that you can get such good fiber from plants using more plant material is just incredible
Taking my time during the woodworking to comment that this is brilliant! I love ancient technology, and the way things change but sort of don't as we get to today.
This series of textile tools has been fascinating and, as a spinner and textile person, so relatable! My one little thought upon seeing the longer thorns: one of those will be the one that will stab me when I make a careless hand move !
Honestly, It makes totalt sense that people waaaaay back in the days did what you just did, out of necessity. Don't matter if it was 10 years ago or 100.000 years ago, we all had siblings or kids breaking things and you'd have to repair or make something again... or you broke it youself :P
I love your channel, you do a lot of textile videos by the harvesting to the production with so much tips and precision. I never found anyone showing the process like you.
Thank you so much
Even though I live in Australia & don't have access to your hedgerows I've really enjoyed this series thank you.
Beautiful hedgemanship ❤️.
Best wishes from Ireland 🇮🇪 to you and your family and subscriber's
Wonderful! Thank you so much. Did not know it to be so easy to make. My first time trying to grow some flax this year. Love early technologies to look back as a way for to continue in the future. This is so interesting.
This has been fascinating! Of course, one always hears/reads about flax being turned into fabric; but to see the process as it might have been done so long ago...I am enthralled!
This was a lovely series to watch, and you presented it with a lot of contagious enjoyment.
Looks like a perfect tool for grooming my neolithic wolf pup.
Brilliant and inspirational. If our ancestors could create such clever tools we can create tools and behavior to sort climate change
We just need our leaders and people to understand that such things are necessary.
Prepare for an ice age.
This is such a cool tool! And it is easy to fix if any of the thorns fall out or break off! That is super neat! Thank you for sharing your experiments with us! 💗🙏🏽
Truly brilliant - so glad to have found you 👍
I’m happy to see you making videos again!
Always look forward to your next posting Sally.
I've loved watching this series.
I love this series! I'm a spinner so it is amazing to see that the tools I use aren't all that different from what my long removed ancestors used.
Thank you-- this series has been fascinating. These tools do the job they were designed for well and must have improved daily life for the folk who invented and used them.
I'm quite fascinated, by how vicious these thorns look 👀
I looked it up and apparently we have Hawthorne (or closely related species) in Germany - but I can't say, I have ever actively noticed one.
Gotta keep my eyes open on my next hike.
Making a brush from them is quite ingenious, though. The things, people came up with...
Hawthorn are easiest to find in late spring when they blossom white and with a lovely fragrance. :)
Doesn't have to be blackthorn or hawthorns!
I have seen some pretty nasty bush lemon tree thorns as well...many as long as these things, no joke!
They're vicious!
Literally any thorns will do, as long as they are of a woody structure, and have a bit of length to them.
You could probably easily get away with half the length of those thorns, or less. It'd still work.
Good luck in your search and wild harvesting! :D
Thank you so much for this series, I have enjoyed it so much. I can't wait to see what you share with us next.
I know a foraging spot in Aldridge near Walsall, near the canal Marina, where there's loads of sloe hedges with thorns.
I so enjoyed watching your contagious enthusiasm creating and working with these tools. I wish you much joy and satisfaction as you work towards your degree.
Oh goodness! We have loads of nettle on our land! Time to do something useful with it!
I believe all of this work is pretty good for your brain too! I love your work. From Saudi Arabia 🩷
I really liked the point you made about it being easy to pop in a replacement thorn. I've always thought, with how much material would need to be processed to keep people kitted out, that they couldn't afford to be precious with their tools, even though they may have taken a lot of work to make. I think this tool demonstrates beautifully the balance between time-consuming tool-making for time-consuming tool-using!
That's a beautiful tool you made there.
Thank you for sharing Sally. I adore your videos!
I have really enjoyed these videos, please don't tell me this is the last one!
It doesn't look like a hedgehog at all - I'm fascinated at how very modern the tool appears - and how well it works. Just seeing the flax and how well it processes into possible thread is fascinating all in itself. I wonder if perhaps countries which relied on hide as clothing maybe didn't have flax like plants? This is all so interesting - thank you.
In the video from Russian open air museum on Kizhi island I have seen how after combing, flax fiber is treated with a dried moss hammock. People was so creative with such simple tools and techniques!
As an amateur woodworker myself, I certainly admire your bravery 😊. Love the textile work, neat stuff I hadn’t seen before.
These are so cool! what even 🥺
Thank you Sally,
I was just looking how to make a kaardbord.
En there you are!!
💚🌿😘
I just thought of Teasels, growing wild, traditional and ready made .
Most teasels aren't strong enough for use on fibre though, I'm not sure when the Fuller's teasel, with it's stronger hooked spines is developed, but it's a fair bit later. I do have a video that compares wild and cultivated teasels if you'd find that interesting
What a joy 😃 Thank you
I made your previous thorn tool, which is great for bramble and yucca cordage. Great series, hope there is more to come.
Given that you’re not trying to use period accurate tools I think I’d have used a Dremel with a sanding drum to take down the surface of the paddle(assuming you have one and assuming that it isn’t a step too far for you regarding tool authenticity. It’d just be a fair bit easier tho probably no faster lol). This is very cool and shows again how strongly function follows form…..any weaver or spinner who handles fibre for working into usable thread can immediately tell what these tools are for, and how to use them….because fibre hasn’t changed, what we need it to do hasn’t changed, and the best and easiest way to achieve this is still to use tools like these. What has changed is the materials used to create those tools. These videos have been just wonderful..btw re: the thorns coming out, have you considered covering the back with pine resin? This “would” mean that you lose the ease of replacing them when they drop, but would probably mean you don’t lose them as often. If it’s a bit sticky, you could probably put a backboard on…..yes this is me, the overcomplicating over thinker lol
Wondering about a mini adze rather than a chisel situation for the lovely thorn brush. An adze is lovely to use…
Funnily enough I was talking to others at the European StoneAge Gathering about this and am adze was their suggestion too. I'll try it next time
_passing thought:_ Whenever One, these days, Eyes a Plant for its features, Years ago One did too, and put it to work.
Hawthorn looks different than here in states, leaves & larger thorns, better check those Birds planted. Still have Chickasaw Plum that should \ May work in many ways. All looks Great, *Thanks so much!* You ARE a 'Master'. : }
What a neat area to get your masters in. Good luck with it. I hope you pass with flying colors!
Not sure why but your video sound is not coming through on my end. Still a grand practical video thank you! Captions were able to be automatically generated. Love the uses of nature!
Neat! I wanted to try something like this, and I’ve got a large Hawthorn tree in my backyard!
Excellent. Did you try using it as a hair brush? I bet it could be dangerous but I bet it would work! Hey great work and I pray your degree comes fast and you can do more of these! Quite inspiring.
I was just thinking about how many of the tools I use as a pet groomer are really repurpused fiber processing tools- slicker brushes, coat rakes probably even stripping knives
@@jwolfe1209 Great insight!
I think that would cause more problems than it would solve, lol!
This is why boar bristle was used instead for hair brushing.
Much gentler, made of the same stuff (keratin), and a lot better at gently polishing the hair too. :)
This has been very enlightening! Thanks for sharing all this with us!
You could use mineral oil from THE CORNISH CHOPPING BOARD COMPANY. I use this oil to coat eggs to preserve them for up to 9 months.
Is that particularly Neolithic compared to linseed?
I think it would work better if the hackle was mounted in a stand, freeing up the other hand to control the loose end of the bundle. There were multiple times, especially when you were outside in the breeze, that bits of the loose end folded over and got caught up in the section you were processing.
Well, over time hackles did come to be mounted. But the point of this project was to attempt to reconstruct an artifact that has been interpreted as a hackle. The original is fragmentary and of a size that suggests it may have been hand held.
Great.
I suspect that a piece of wood was cleft to the right thickness and an axe used to form the handle shape. A piece of stone could scrape it smooth.
If the holes were drilled with flint, that would likely have resulted in a somewhat conical hole (possibly conical on both sides). That might have actually been beneficial as, if the angle of the hole was correct, it would allow the thorns to be wedged into position quite securely.
Would they have just used a hand held flint drill, or something more sophisticated like a bow drill or pump drill?
Fascinating stuff.
This is awesome! I want to make one
I've got to say, that was absolutely fascinating! I wonder, how would they have drilled a hole with the flint? Maybe glue a tiny flake to the end of a stick and spin?
👏👏👏👏👏👏👏🪶🪶🪶🪶🪶❤️saved to my playlist👏👏👏
thanks
How exciting! What fun! I wish this field of study had existed when I was in university. Eons ago, in the before internet era (BIE, ha). I was wondering, if one were to soak the "problem" thorns, would they swell and then fit better for awhile? Or is it just as easy to replace them? The multilevels of the thorns probably will work to better separate the veggie bits/tow from the finer line.
Hello, I come to visit in UK this September . I would love to come to one of your workshops. Do you have some in September?
I'm in Denmark til mid September, but there might be something near the end of the month. Am currently talking to the site organisers, so details will go on the workshop page of my website once it's arranged
Thanks for the video of the experiment. My daughter also is making a project this year about first textiles and we try to make pieaces form nettle, flax and wool. I tried to find the page form the Vogt's book whith this photo of the hackle board but failed. It is from Neolithic period, do you know what is the exact dating of the hackle? I also recommend to read a book of Karina Gromer "The Art of prehistoric textile making"
Were you to hang your flax bundle across a horizontal
Bar of some kind, and use the paddle in a vertical stroke, it would seem a bit easier to process to me.
If that's works for you, definitely go for it, For me, I lose too much doing it that way round
I have to wonder how often flax was added to a woman's hair to make it apear thicker.
I'm wondering if instead of the bone hacklle they might also have used wood ones in a pinch when they didn't have enough proper bone.
There are a lot of bone combs from these sites, some large enough for use as flax ripples certainly if not hackles
I absolutely love your videos, thanks for sharing your studies with us. You make me want to enrol in uni again although I am an old fart. What I don't understand though, is why you're using this hackling tool backwards? The handle suggests it should be held & used like a brush, if not, it would be pad-shaped, surely? If it was used like a brush, just like a fleece carder or a dog's slicker, you'd have much less breakage imho. Worth a try?
I wonder if there are any known carding paddles or similar instruments made of clay, since clay is MUCH easier to shape and make holes in it.
Intriguing idea, but clay breaks when knocked or dropped, and textile tools tend to take a lot of wear and tear. Would be fun to experiment with though.
I think the plant is held down and the hackle is wielded. That is why they have a handle. That is my instinct.
I did try that but the more current method of moving the flax over the hackle rather than the hackle over the flax has worked better for me so far. If you make one though, definitely let me know if yours works better the other way round.
Thank you for the videos! You are very knowledgeable and pleasant to listen to.
Do you know if it's possible to still grow flax if there's only 100 days left before average first frost? Or would it be best to wait until next year?
I suspect next year might be safest, but you could put in a sample patch to see what happens perhaps?
I wonder if they used thorns as sewing needles way back then?
We haven't found any with holes in, but they make excellent pins
Looks like it could also be a useful tool to fight zombies if needed. Lol
(iv been watching too many zombie movies lately hehe).
I can't help but think that the hackle would've been used like a brush given the handle and the angle that the wood is chiselled. I feel like the flax would be laid out on a table and then - holding the handle - you would brush down its length? It would be quicker and easier to clear the flax that way and would justify the addition of the handle on the hackle.
*starts eyeing up hawthorn bush in garden* hmmmm
You jokingly said it looked like a pet hedgehog.. This set me wondering.. Is there any evidence that they used actual hedgehog skin (Were hedgehogs even around at this time??) Although I guess the skin itself would degrade and rot, unless tanned or preserved in some way.
What thorns did they use
Blackthorn (sloe)
Would you use pine resin as glue?
Not on this, pressure fitting is perfect
Honestly, I don't think having glue would be an improvement. Even if it prevents thorns from falling out, there's still a chance that they could break off. With pressure fitting, it's easy to replace any broken ones. If you used glue, it would be harder to remove the broken end. As for thorns falling out, we saw that it doesn't happen too much, and with experience you would learn to fit them even better so that it would hardly happen at all.
🎩Hi. Hawthorn is better than blackthorn.
Blackthorn spikes have a little cup on the end which can harbour nasty stuff. One of my fellow foresters got a blackthorn spike through his boot. And let’s just say lots of yuck. 🙀
It might work better to clamp the flax and then use the hackle as if your brushing your own hair
Didn't work well for me, but if yours is better that way go for it! What sort of hackle are you using with that method?
Try saying Thorn Flax Hackle 20 times fast 😂
Such valuable work done here. Bringing to life the day to day of our distant past. Such wonderful history.
Please don't downplay your woodwork. The device looks really good. This winter I shall look for thorns 🫐
"Lovely lethal thorns" lol. That is an awesome, useful tool and nicely done! It was very satisfying to watch
Thank you! I am learning to not take textiles for granted!
I’ve had the pleasure of explaining how much labor producing textiles used to take to a group of 11-year old students.
I only covered the sewing part at first - every stitch on every piece of clothing done by hand - and they were so fascinated that I also told them briefly about spinning and weaving.
They were a delight :)
This is a terrific series, Sally, you are a natural teacher as well as a wonderful researchist. Thank you for sharing your work. Now I need to start my own set of tools!
Did you try drawing the thorn hackle over flax by holding the handle? Perhaps tying the flax up on a board. (Rather than the flax over the hackle.)
I love all the interesting textile vocabulary I've been learning from you. Hackle. Scutched. Retting. Fun words to try in my next Scrabble game!
I can't imagine I'd be too fussy about what species of thorn I'd use, if I were a neolithic person. I reckon one pointy twig is about as equal as the other in terms of hackling. I definitely would've stabbed myself somehow though, mandatory blood sacrifice to the textile gods lol. It's the reason I keep bandaids in the sewing box.
I bet that in a pinch they could have sharpened a few twigs too.
Blood sacrifice to the textile gods, I feel that in my fingers... bandaids in the sewing kit is a good idea but yesterday's blood sacrifice was actually drawn by the trunk I keep my fabrics in... it's just not a finished product till I've bled. Unless it's crocheting, if I bleed on my crocheting I've done something REALLY wrong.
@@bunhelsingslegacy3549 It's not a true crochet/knit project until you've had to unravel most of it at least twice.
This seems like it could be a relaxing activity. I can imagine the Neolithic people sitting around the common area of their village, hackling their flax and having a nice chat.
There's a reason why "stitch and bitch" is a common term among those that like to recreate history (medievalists, mainly, lol!)
The women all have their gathering days (usually a monthly event) to sit around and either collectively work on something, or simply just go for the company while they work on their own project.
It can get pretty damn mind-numbing just sitting by yourself doing it sometimes. :P
Thus..."stitch and bitch" sessions were created. :D
@@TheMurlocKeeper I think all stitchers use the term, really. Although in this case, maybe it would be a "hackle and heckle"!
What is so surprising is that some cultures had all of this and could weave fabric so fine that our modern machines and equipment are not even able to produce the same quality today. They have fabrics that were so smooth and strong that when the thread count was done it boggles the mind that the equipment they used then was able to produce such a fine piece of cloth, and yet with all of out modern advances we can not produce that very cloth on todays machines.
Today’s industries are very much focused on producing _good enough_ as cheaply as possible, rather than spending extra to make the best quality possible.
Congrats on your thesis! It’s a wonderful series you made 🎉
Thank you for posting such kindly presented, inspiring videos.
Thank you so much for your support!
Finally, twenty years after reading books describing people as "flax-haired" and "tow-headed", I can see what they meant!
Thank you so much for posting, I really enjoy your videos.
Drilling smaller holes with one thorn each and using carefully selected thorn lengths might allow to oppose two cards. 👍😊
It is a mark of a professional to acknowledge where their field of expertise begins and where it ends. With what you had you made a good wood work 😅 Ancient textile work is amazing to revive as alternative to modern industry. And of course handcraft is relaxing as well. Thank you!
So, if that's flax, are you making linen?
That's right
Amazing! I did wonder if the paddle was soaked in water with the thorns in place, make the wood swell and pinch the thorns and secure them. (would this make the paddle split with wetting and drying, yours has been oiled so may not work to find out now)
thank you for sharing Sally!
Wow, that's some mighty long flax. Did that come from Egypt? Ive only seen long flax like that from Egypt.
This was Dutch but I have similar grown in the UK
@@SallyPointer Dang, I want to have flax grow that tall here.
When I tell you I dropped what I was doing when your video crossed my feed. I've been loving this series very much and geeking out on my roommate about all the lovely research. I had a thought as you were working with the paddle and flax that maybe they tucked the handle between their knees to have both hands free? Random theory and may not be feasible. But I have enjoyed all of your well thought out, researched, and well presented videos.
I planted Japanese dog roses and hawthorn in my garden to make an edible hedge for foraging rose hips and hawthorn berries.
Beautifully wonky, TY Sally. 👍
Hi, Sally! Thank you for sharing your resources with us. ❤
Thank You so much for this fascinating series.