Domestic Wooden Artefacts
in Britain and Ireland from Neolithic to Viking Times

In the first published synthesis of the subject, Caroline Earwood traces the changing styles and manufacturing techniques of wooden domestic artefacts in Britain and Ireland from the Neolithic age to the time of the Vikings. A surprising number of these items have survived – some as ancient as 6000 years old – in wet and waterlogged places such as wells and bogs.

The book attempts to answer questions about who made the many and varied objects, who used them and how their style and decoration compare with pottery, metal and stone artefacts from the same period. It also examines the continued use of ancient techniques as late as the 20th century.

Acknowledgements, vii; List of illustrations, ix; Introduction, xvii; Chapter 1. Distribution, deposition and dating, 1; Chapter 2. Stylistic and technical evolution: prehistory, 28; Chapter 3. Typological development in the first millennium AD, 76; Chapter 4. Wooden textile tools, 125; Chapter 5. Carving and bentwood techniques, 145; Chapter 6. Cooperage, 169; Chapter 7. Turning and woodworking tools, 184; Chapter 8. Organisation of production, 212; Chapter 9. Cultural influences on style and decoration, 222; Chapter 10. Progression, regression and archaism, 234; Bibliography, 247; Catalogue of domestic wooden artefacts: Britain and Ireland, 263; Index, 293.

 

Caroline Earwood is a freelance archaeologist specialising in woodwork technology.