Living Primitively

Most embarrasingly I often have projects that span years, even if they are quite simple. This project for instance is a pecked and ground axe celt that I started around 2 years ago. Making a celt handle is something I rarely have the time to do, so I decided to modify the axe head to accomodate a different type of hafting. Here is the material, a celt axe head and a quartzite pebble to peck with.

The pecking is done around the whole head, particular attention kept to the top and the bottom, since they will be the two most important points of connection to the handle. Pecking is done in a light motion, no force put into it, only the weigth of the stone is used. Don’t peck too deep and use the sharpest possible edge to keep work and risk of fracture at a minimum.

It’s that simple, the earlier processes in axe head construction can be found here. I will demonstrate hafting one of the nearest days.

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Telemark rests in the very most south-western corner of the great Siberian taiga, our terrain, animals and vegetation is somewhat different compared to the eastern part, but it’s still what can be called a “spruce-moose” forest. In Telemark, and Norway in general, there are generally three types of different terrains. The heather moors and fields, which are not natural, are not described. And the coastal rainforest I haven’t much experience with. The far north is classified as tundra and the far south as belonging to the nemoral zone.

Pine moors, being very dry because of well drained soils, scotch pine dominate this terrain, with occational occurence of birch and spruce. Wildlife is relatively scarce here, red squirrel and pine marten are two of the most common mammals, but caribou/reindeer and moose/elk often have their winter habitat there. Capercaillie are the most common game birds. I don’t know of many examples of virgin forest of this kind. Probably because it’s a very easily accessible terrain for logging excellent timber.

Hillsides are usually fertile, especially the ones that face to the south and are slighly moist. There is often a large variety of plants there. These hillsides have willow, spruce, birch, juniper, aspen, bird cherry and a number of other trees. The north facing sides are usually covered in predominately spruce, but with some birch. Right below the mountains, where the very warmest places in all of the territories are, you’ll find elm, hazel and linden. Wildlife is very diverse, hares probably being the most common specie. Roe and red deer often stay only here, since they require foods of higher quality. Beaver can often log quite far up these slopes. I have seen them log several hundred metres up, though then with additional dams up a nearby stream. These slopes are difficult to log, and are often left to “rewild” today.

Bogs are often relatively barren, but if combined with lakes or on rich ground they can harbour important sites for waterfowl and important grazing zones for moose. Wet ground, but overgrown with alder is the primary habitat of the hazel grouse.

Mountains are in summer quite fertile in the lower portions. Sometimes covered in birch or willow. The moose and caribou often go there to graze during that time. The snow patches on the higher elevation provides an escape from the moskitos and flies. In winter the higher elevations provide habitat for the caribou and lower for the grouse.

Edge zones are the most productive places in a habitat, either where a terrain meets a lake or two types meets eachother. The reason why my part of Telemark is particulary productive, is because an abundance of such zones. Many of them created by lakes. Along these lakes

There are several hybrids of these habitats, like deltas, which can be exceptionally rich, but they are rare. Especially today, since many have been drained.

And remember to have a look in the chatroom.

Having made a pair of thumbless mittens for my youngest girl, I of course have to make a pair for my oldest girl, just with thumbs. This is a natural progression for me as a tailor too I feel, since these mittens have a more complicated pattern. These mittens will have stommach fur lining and outer fur on the outside. The palm will be bare to allow a better grip. for that I will use buckskin.

Making the pattern is the most difficult part of tailoring in my opinion. One rule I learned from the last pair of mittens I made: Making it big and roomy is better then aiming for the perfect fit and going a little too small. Since I’m very much a novice in this, I’ll probably end up going a little over the top on the size this time.

Making the pattern is probably the hardest thing of it all (seems so yet at least). Write around your hand and add at least 1,5 cm extra around your hand for sewing and because your hand is not in 2D. The left pattern is for the back of the hand, middle is for the front, but inside, the right one is devided (because the lower portion will be with fur and the upper without), the lower pattern is the thumb cover. For more details and excellent descriptions of the processes I recommend “Secrets of Eskimo Skin Sewing” by Edna Wilder.

If you ever choose to venture into mountains of Telemark, know this: There are virtually no easily accessible plant foods. Here are a few notable ones in the lower valleys, which can be gathered in reasonable quality and tastes good. I don’t have many photos here I’m afraid.

Sow Thistle (Sonchus oleraceus)

Learn to identify the rosettes. It grows on poor soil, sometimes in large quantities. The roots are often of a good size and they taste almost like potato. Eat only young roots. The ones that has grown a stem are usually woody. The stems and leaves are supposedly edible too, though I have not tested this out for myself.

Caraway (Carum carvi)

Grows mostly on the pastures and fields of the lower valleys. They can be hard to spot later in the season, but in the spring they are amongst the most prominent plants on the fields. Look for bushy rosettes. Be careful not to pick some of the dangerous species in this family. The roots are rather big and fairly spicy in taste. The seeds have a very distinct, spicy taste and are often used in traditional Norwegian cheese. I personally find the flavour and aroma of the seeds a little too pungent.

Orpine (Sedum telephium)

Grows underneath mountains on often quite thin and rocky soils. The roots are of quite good size and taste almost like potato. The leaves are supposedly edible too, though I haven’t tested this. The picture below is of a plant that is almost withered.

PS! Remember to check out the new Primitive Skills Chat Room.

A wound can remain unpatched and heal up nicely, but if you don’t want to lose more blood than necessary you should put something on it. Some patching material has antibacterial qualities and heal things up quicker too. Two of the common materials that are said to have this effect is common plantain (Plantago major) and razor strop fungus (Piptoporus betulinus).

Common plantain is very frequently found on roads or well used paths. The leaves are thin and have small threads in them. Don’t wash it, but place it directly on the wound. The leaves don’t soak up blood, so you need a piece of buckskin or similar with binding around to hold it in place. Sorry about the lack of photos on this one. Thanks for the photo Kevin.

Razorstrap fungus is a hoof fungus that grows most commonly on birch. To process it, take a fresh piece (they dry slowly, so you can keep one with you at all time) and make cuts around the piece you need. What you are to be cutting out is the underside, also called the pores. Stick a knife underneath and skin the flake off. As Kevin shows in his blog you can use it as a self adhesive plaster. If the adhesion isn’t strong enough, just use a binding around it. While on the trip I used it on a infected wound, it seemed to work, but it burned like hell! I advise that you use the inside of the strap, since it is likely to be most sterile.