Another strangely dry week has come to an end (we’re not complaining!).
The volunteers are progressing well with their tasks. Although all timber related, the tasks offer a range of activities that (hopefully) prevent repetitive strain injuries. At this stage, mainly timber processing, the work can be awkward and back-breaking as heavy logs are stripped of their bark and hewn to reduce their weight and shape them into usable timbers.
Experiments have continued and expanded. Stone axe notches are being cut into the logs to aid in the further refinement of each timber. Each experiment is being recorded on sheets which will (in time) be transferred to a database.
The recording process aims to allow the data to reveal aspects of human and tool efficiency, along with logistical aspects of building a Neolithic-type structure.
Each form records the volunteer, the date, the time of the experiment (to allow sequences in each day to be understood), a detailed task description, the experiment duration, the number of blows taken, the specific tool chosen for the task and the volume of timber removed during the task (we take a Plasticine impression of the axe-cut notch and place it in a measured volume of water to measure its displacement).
We are also interested in less tangible aspects of the volunteer experience such as weather conditions, the reasons behind specific tool choices, working positions, and social aspects of being involved in such a unique project.
This week, as the volunteers have improved (dramatically) their skills with hand tools such as steel axes, our experiments have moved on to possible reduction methods that take a whole tree to a prepared structural timber. The potential methods include notching and removing the waste with a stone adze, notching and side axing with stone axes, and notching and removing the waste with wooden wedges and mauls.
Each method produces subtly different surface finishes and, we assume, will vary in efficiency and time (this data will emerge as the project progresses). It raises certain questions regarding the aesthetic of Neolithic carpentry.
Although a lasting assumption is that Neolithic carpentry was largely expedient, the little available evidence suggests otherwise. The few known surviving Neolithic timbers (in the form of well-linings from Germany and an amazing, three-planked door from Zurich) all demonstrate high levels of timber processing and finishing, even in well-linings that, once installed several metres in the ground, would never be seen again. This degree of processing leads us away from the notion of simple round-wood structures, with the bark left on and a minimum of processing, to the idea of Neolithic structures that exhibit an aesthetic of radially split planks and timbers, a range of complex carpentry joints (including mortise and tenon), and beautiful timbers exhibiting the unmistakable scallops of a well balanced stone adze.
After much discussion, we feel that the Durrington 68 Neolithic Hall should attempt to demonstrate a range of authentic finishes to the visiting public, from split surfaces, hewn and adzed surfaces and (perhaps as expected), natural surfaces. We feel this approach will allow interesting discussions to be initiated by the interpreters of the building – with the visiting public.
Our aim, after all, is not to produce a one dimensional vision of how the structure would have looked, but to create a three dimensional vision that presents a range of interpretations within the building.