The Museum of the Wood Age

December 2024 Meeting Report

For the last meeting of 2024 writer, archaeologist and woodsman, Max Adams, spoke about ‘The Museum of the Wood Age’. There can, of course, be no museum in the normal sense, since wooden objects cannot survive as stone, bronze, iron and other metals do. And yet we were shown how the ‘Wood Age’ can be said to date back to a time more than 200,000 years ago, before the emergence of homo sapiens. Primates can be seen using sticks as a kind of tool, and the earliest humans would have used pieces of wood for carrying, digging, for defence and eventually as levers. Later, more complex devices were produced, such as spindles for spinning yarn, bows for hunting and fighting. and wooden joints for making furniture, all of which are still used today. Some of the earliest dwellings were round houses made of coppice material. Later still, wealthy landowners built rectangular timber halls. Some of the oldest buildings, such as Westminster Hall and many of our churches retain their original timber roofs.

The first wheels were made from a solid round of wood from the centre of a felled log and were attached to farm vehicles pulled by oxen. Wheels with spokes came later and allowed the use of horses because of their lighter weight. The water wheel is an example of a very complex and therefore very expensive form of technology.

Max Adams stressed the importance of managing our woodlands, of harvesting, using and regrowing trees in a perpetual cycle. His enthusiasm has led to his personal involvement in managing areas of woodland of his own and in educating others in the importance of this ancient material. Judging by the response to his talk it would be safe to say that enthusiasm was contagious!

Report by Kathryn McLachlan

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