Archive for Downsizer For an ethical approach to consumption
|
CYL
|
Animal 'Bits'If anyone has any extaneous animals bits (bone, horn, antler, sinew, especially sinew!) going, please do contact me to see if I can afford them off you.
I need them for me Masters degree. And to make me look cool in front of my friends. 
|
Rob R
|
Always plenty of animal bits round here, though here is a long way from Exeter  
|
CYL
|
Ah ha, but by the wonders of modern technology (aka a courier), I'm sure we can come to a deal.
Also, you may find yourself with an entire university archaeology department as a future customer.
Did I mention that?
Also, I spend one or two months a year in North Yorkshire anyway, since it's where my mum lives (The Dales).
|
Rob R
|
| CYL wrote: | Also, you may find yourself with an entire university archaeology department as a future customer.
Did I mention that?
|
Ah, you may well be interested in the anatomical distinctiveness of the Dexter bones & their (supposed) links to our native celtic cattle
What is it about me & archaeologists they all seem to want something
|
sally_in_wales
|
We do a lot of bone/horn/sinew work (also an archaeologist), yell if we can help. We've done a number of replica items for undergraduates over the years as well as all the stuff we make for our own nefarious purposes. Jerkymeister also is constantly butchering things like deer, just remember we have trouble getting animals to the size they oten were in the past, we were asked to copy one of the Paviland spatulas a while ago and just could not get bone with a wall thickeness equivalent to the original item, really brought home how our animals tend to differ, same with antler, look at some of those comb plates, we don't get deer with racks that big all that often these days. So, depends on what you are working on but its not always easy to exactly match an arhcaeological example with modern animal parts
|
CYL
|
We're Experimental Archaeology Masters students, so we need the bits to do stuff. (A glorious technical description of what we do there!)
I need Sinew. Frankly about as much as you can shovel at me, because my 'thing' is Roman artillery, and I need the sinew to make the rope they used in it, so I can run a couple of tests with it.
The size of the animals isn't too important, as long as they're relatively native breeds, since mostly what we're doing is using the bits to turn them into things (i.e bone in to combs and hide scrapers, sinew into rope and 'string', etc.)
We have lots of animal skeletons in the department collections, but obviously we can't use them for cutting up (or smashing up) for our experiments.
Also, Sally, where are you an archaeologist, and what exactly do you do?
|
sally_in_wales
|
| CYL wrote: |
Also, Sally, where are you an archaeologist, and what exactly do you do? |
I'm based in the Museum of Wales, (though I'm officially attached to the education dept there rather than the archaeology dept- they are very tolerant of my various moonlighting activities when I work on particular archaeology projects for other museums!). I specialise in the experimental reconstruction of early cosmetics, perfumes and related products and have a broad interest in plants pigments and resins. To be honest though, I love most of the experimental aspects, I only get to dig for about a week a year so I'm no great field archaeologist, but I'm never happier than when I'm trying to replicate a weave effect or seeing how effective different comb or cordmaking materials are or finding out just what an analysed residue might have smelt like when fresh! I looked at doing the experimental archaeology masters myself a few years back, but couldnt summon up the cash unfortunately.
Ask Martin (jerkymeister) about deer sinew, he gets through a couple of animals a month typically, though the last time we took sinew out it wasnt very long lengths. We last used some a few months back when Gareth was doing some bronze axe casting, and we found it quite fiddly to extract lengths even long enough to effectively haft the axe from the size deer we had access to then.
|
dpack
|
ok i will bear you in mind .
at the moment im trying to tan sharkskin with oak galls .
i find critter bits .
oak gall tanning is ace .
|
dpack
|
i cure /tan owt ive got that seems useful .
a recent success has seen squirel with fur
peel critter ,scrape skin , salt for a few days ,collect and chop 10 oak galls per squirrel , boil galls and cool , pickle squirrel in galls and liquor for a week .rinse and dry . work and oils will soften the hide (as does brains but that is a bit smelly )
i am trying the same method on a strip of shark skin (for a knife handle )but it is getting a longer time as it is much thicker .
oak galls are present on most oaks get them when there are no leaves (many small tress are easier than one big one )
i recon a day collecting in an oaky place would get enough for a deer .
gall tea works as ink as well
other methods
ihave tried a dry cure with salt and tea , it takes a couple of months but i have bits of hare nearly 30 years old
dry the hide , rub it with the brains , dry it again .smelly and not long lasting .
one i keep meaning to try is sink it in a peat bog for a few months .
hope that clears thing up .
|
|