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Plants and Animals as Craft Resources

Module description

Plants and animals are important environmental resources in archaeological societies and in traditional communities.  Practical experiences of experimental archaeology and traditional craft exploitation and management will be covered, drawing on indigenous knowledge, sustainable approaches, and good husbandry.  Traditional plant management cycles for wild resources will be covered and there will be a one-day workshop with a basket maker who grows her own willow and manages her own rush beds on the river Brue. Animal resources will be taught as a whole animal approach including their use for hide and fur tanning as well as bone, antler, and sinew. We will make use of the woodland experimental archaeology area, our community garden bed and other campus resources. You will integrate practical skills to mesh with academic knowledge.

If you are interested in the study of plant or animal resources from an archaeological perspective, or for experimental archaeology skills, you will benefit from this module. 

Module aims - intentions of the module

Critically engage with practical and academic knowledge on the use of plants and animals as craft resources.

Integrate archaeological, ethnographic, and traditional craft knowledge to think through management of resources and environment relationships considering indigenous knowledge and sustainability.

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)

ILO: Module-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 1. Critically evaluate practical experiences and a range of academic knowledge
• 2. Demonstrate critical reflection on practical experiences and the role of plants and animals as craft resources

ILO: Discipline-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 3. Deal with complex archaeological issues systematically and creatively within acknowledged ethical, safety and conservation issues
• 4. Evaluate critically and select and apply the methods of recording and analysis most appropriate for case studies

ILO: Personal and key skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 5. Write clearly to a high level and succinctly using appropriate language and illustrative material completing work to a deadline
• 6. Demonstrate the ability to work individually and collectively as part of a team

Syllabus plan

While the content may vary from year to year, it is envisioned that it will cover some or all the following topics:

• management and exploitation practices for different plant-based crafts;
• the use of animal soft tissues and mineral tissues for crafts;
• archaeological evidence for plant and animal-based material culture;
• traditional craft practices; sustainability, identity and indigenous knowledge.

Staff will provide overviews of current research and hands on learning opportunities to develop relevant skills and to enable critical reflection of the opportunities provided by practical engagement with data. These will be used to bring out broader themes of integrated approaches and case studies and practical planning (logistics, risk assessments, social media posts).

Learning activities and teaching methods (given in hours of study time)

Details of learning activities and teaching methods

Formative assessment

Summative assessment (% of credit)

Details of summative assessment

Details of re-assessment (where required by referral or deferral)

Re-assessment notes

Essay:  a new topic will be set
Written report is based on the practical experiences provided in the module.

Deferral – if you miss an assessment for certificated reasons judged acceptable by the Mitigation Committee, you will normally be either deferred in the assessment or an extension may be granted. The mark given for a re-assessment taken as a result of deferral will not be capped and will be treated as it would be if it were your first attempt at the assessment.

Referral – if you have failed the module overall (i.e. a final overall module mark of less than 50%) you will be required to submit a further assessment as necessary. If you are successful on referral, your overall module mark will be capped at 50%.

Indicative learning resources - Basic reading

• Hurcombe, L. 2014. Perishable material culture in prehistory: investigating the missing majority, London, Routledge.
• Hurcombe, L. and Emmerich Kamper. T. 2016, Plant materials, hides and skins as structural components, perishable material culture and archaeological invisibility in L. Hurcombe and P. Cunningham (ed.s) The Life Cycle of Structures in Experimental Archaeology: an Object Biography Approach, Leiden: Sidestone Press, pp 59-76.
• Jolie, E. A. and M. E. McBrinn 2010 Retrieving the Perishable Past: Experimentation in Fiber Artifact Studies, in Ferguson, Jeffery R. (ed) Designing Experimental Research in Archaeology, Examining Technology through Production and Use, University Press of Colorado, Boulder Colorado, pp 153-194

Indicative learning resources - Other resources

Further reading

• Andersson Strand, E. 2018 Experimental textile archaeology  a link to the past?, in EC. Egbert, S. Frisch, M. Harlow, E. Andersson Strand, and L. Bjerregaard (eds.) Traditional Textile Craft (2^nd edition), pp.77-94, Copenhagen: Centre for textile research
• Bement, L.C. 2010 Replicating Bone Tools and Other Fauno Technologies, in Ferguson, Jeffery R. (ed) Designing Experimental Research in Archaeology, Examining Technology through Production and Use, University Press of Colorado, Boulder Colorado, pp 225-240
• Bergfjord, C., Mannering, U., Frei, K.M., Gleba, M., Scharff, A.B., Skals, I., Heinemeier, J., Nosch, M.L. and Holst, B. 2012: ‘Nettle as a distinct Bronze Age textile plant’. Scientific reports, 2(664), p1-4
• Bernick, K. 1998. Stylistic characteristics of basketry from Coast Salish area wet sites, in K. Bernick (ed) Hidden Dimensions:  The Cultural Significance of Wetland Archaeology, Vancouver:  University of British Columbia, pp.139-156.
• Betts MW (2007) The Mackenzie Inuit whale bone industry: raw material, tool manufacture, scheduling, and trade. Arctic 60:129–144
• Croes, D.R. 2010 Courage and thoughtful scholarship=indigenous archaeology partnerships, American Antiquity 75:211-216.
• Choyke, A. and O’Connor, S. (eds.) 2013 From These Bare Bones, Raw Materials and the Study of Worked Osseous Objects, Oxford, Oxbow.
• Herbig, C. and Maier, U. 2011: ‘Flax for oil of fibre? Morphometric analysis of flax seeds and new aspects of flax cultivation in Late Neolithic wetland settlements in southwest Germany’. Vegetation History and Archaeobotany, 20(6) p527-533
• Hurcombe, L. 2005 (with L. Lemieux) ‘Basketry’ in J.Gardiner (ed) Before the Mast:  Life and Death Aboard the Mary Rose.  The Archaeology of the Mary Rose vol. 4, London:  English Heritage, pp.400-408. (Whole volume won award)
• MacGregor, A. and Currey, J. 1983  Mechancial properties as conditioning factors in the bone and antler industry of the 3rd to the 19th century. J. Archaeological Science 10: 71-77.
• Palomino E, Pardue J. Alutiiq Fish Skin Traditions: Connecting Communities in the COVID-19 Era. Heritage. 2021; 4(4):4249-4263.
• Wendrich, W., & Ryan, P. 2012. Phytoliths and Basketry Materials at Çatalhöyük (Turkey): Timelines of growth, harvest and objects life histories. Paléorient,38(1/2), 55-63.
• Young, D., Nicks, G., McConnell, R., & Suss, L. (1991). Birchbark Industry and Brain Tanning in the Central Canadian Subarctic. Arctic Anthropology, 28(1), 110–123.

Key words search

Bone antler, hide tanning, textiles, plant management, basketry