Main Discussion Area > Around the Campfire
How did primative people put away wood for the winter?
Hawkdancer:
Reginald Laubin "The Indian Tipi", University of Oklahoma Press(I think). He mentions the location of the wood pile inside the lodge and the insulating, but I don't remember if he covered the heavy work of gathering. Haven't seen 3 feet of snow here in a number of years, don't want to either! We got less than an inch, we're overdue. I know the area around there is in a severe drought pattern. Puppies, kids and international students from dry climates really enjoy the snow, first time at least!. Where are you in relation Santa Fe?
Hawkdancer
Marc St Louis:
A lot of dead wood can be collected in the form of large branches, small trees and possibly they made a practice of creating dead wood nearby by removing the bark from around the base of small trees. The idea of chopping trees down and splitting with stone doesn't seem practical to me. Small trees and large branches on the other hand can be broken easily enough with a large rock
Mesophilic:
--- Quote from: Hawkdancer on January 02, 2019, 09:19:19 am --- Where are you in relation Santa Fe?
--- End quote ---
I'm in Los Alamos, about 45 mins north west of Santa Fe.
I'll see if my library has that book. Because of our location and demographics I would imagine they do have a copy.
My next question, and maybe ot deserves its own thread, but what about latrines? And especially, latrines in winter months?
JW_Halverson:
The Mandan and Hidatsa built earth lodges, partially dug down into the ground. Four large corner posts, then layers of logs, bundles of willows, grasses, and then a thick layer of dirt and the sod is reseeded onto the outer surface. A center smoke hole, double doors to insulate from wind blowing through. With the large thermal mass and deep insulation they stayed warm in the winters with small central fires.
Coincidentally, they were also decently cool in the summer. Especially since they also watered the floors then to keep the dust down. The evaporative cooling effect was pretty efficient.
GlisGlis:
@dieselcheese
All this practical aspects of everyday life also fascinate me
Dont know about toilets but in general I think the word for ancient people was "LESS"
Smaller fire, Less wood to collect and process, smaller shelters, less objects to carry and store...
Looking at the first inuit videos looks like they could live in igloo with virtually no or very small fire.
So it had to be a mix of building good shelters knowledge and resistence to cold
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[#] Next page
[*] Previous page
Go to full version