Posted on March 30, 2016 By archaeofox
“Most were already talking about which type of bow they wanted to try making next; with one chap even saying that he thinks he ‘caught the bug’”.
So rather than go on for an hour about ‘Viking Archery’, I decided to break my talk into three parts;
First: ‘Exactly what evidence archaeologists see when examining archery material; a sort of, ‘Intro to the Archaeology of Archery’; the preservation (or lack thereof) of bows and arrowshafts; the deceptive quality of wooden remains, realism in art; the difference between a symbol and a representation.
Second: ‘how these kinds of evidences have been used recently to build the image of the ‘Viking Archer‘ today; the bow and arrowhead finds from Hedeby and Nydam; archery in the saga literature and representation in later Medieval art.
And finally, the part that tied into the workshop: ‘How to make a Viking bow’.
“They can now question where the evidence comes from, separate fact from fiction and start rebuilding that knowledge into a craft”.
Here I could share my own experiences working at UCD Centre for Experimental Archaeology and Material Culture. Of my experience handling the Viking bow fragments from Dublin at the National Museum of Ireland and how I learned the process of Viking bow making, a skill that I then was able take to the Lofoten Islands in Northern Norway for two summers.
The Chieftain’s Longhouse, the Lofotr Viking Museum
In this way I hoped to give them a taste of how evidence should be collected, interpreted and then used to build a picture of the past; and how sometimes, that very same evidence can also be misleading.
When combined with the bowmaking workshop, I hope that when each of Patricia’s students begins research into their own chosen field of archery, they will each now have a sense of archaeological context, where the evidence comes from and how to start rebuilding that knowledge into a craft
With so many people it would have been an impossible task to complete every bow, so after learning to make a bowstring from linen cordage and beeswax, each learned arguably one of the most difficult aspects to grasp, of the entire process: the ‘brace’.
This is when the bow is first strung, which often results in a rather ‘un-bowlike’ shape, that is tedious to correct. But with guided scrapes in the right places, they each pushed on until the first bow was strung.
My personal goal was to get at least one bow tillered and shot by the end of each group’s overall workshop, demonstrating the entire process from start to finish; a task not usually achieved in bowmaking courses.
I chose one bow from each class and tillered it while the others continued to work; stopping the class periodically, handing over my knife and letting each student experience the long process of gradually scraping the belly, drawing the bow on the string, not forcing it, but teaching the bow to bend.
Overall the feedback was 100% positive. No stave broke, every bow reached the tillering phase and by the end of the the second weekend, everyone was swinging axes and drawing knives like pros! Most were already talking about which type of bow they wanted to try making next; with one chap even saying that he thinks he ‘caught the bug’.
I would like to thank UCD School of Archaeology for their support in letting me take time out of my PhD to come and give this workshop. Giving these students a chance to experience the kind of research we carry out in our own Centre for Experimental Archaeology everyday, I was told, was quite inspiring.
I would especially like to thank Patricia Gonsalves, director of Lykopis Archery in Vancouver for inviting me over. It has truly been an unforgettable event and one I hope to do here again some day.
For more photos and articles on Stephen’s trip as well as his research and other adventures visit www.archaeofox.com , Follow or Subscribe for more!
Category: Adventure, Blog, Experimental Archaeology, Homepage Posts, Travel Tags: Adventure, Archaeology, Archery, Arrows, Axe, Bow-making, Bowyer, Craft, dc's arrow, Draw Knife, education, Experimental Archaeology, exploration, Fletching, Flying, Green Arrow, History, Learn, Lofoten, Lofotr Viking Museum, lykopis archery, Material Culture, Medieval, Oliver Queen, Patricia Gonsalves, PhD, photography, Research, Stephen Fox, Teaching, timber, tools, UCD Centre for Experimental Archaeology and Material Culture, UCD School of Archaeology, Viking, wood
ArchaeoFox: Exploring the World Through the Past
Reblogged this on StraumEyjar Buelag Fløya Bueskyttere.
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