Bast fiber cordage resources

[Buoidda]

I find bast cordage fascinating and I thought I will put my study resources here for anyone to enjoy. Probably no-one but at least I find them myself should I somehow lose access to my bookmarks.

Cordage in North America has good explanations on sinew vs. plant cordage.
http://www.primitiveways.com/cordage_in_North_America.html

Analysis of the bast used by the Iceman as binding material, page 69.
(Page 70 lists tree species useful for bast cordage):
Bortenschlager, Sigmar, Oeggs, Klaus (eds) 2000.
The Iceman and his Natural Environment: Palaeobotanical Results.
https://books.google.fi/books?id=roEsBAAAQBAJ&lpg


Different methods of harvest from Karen Hardy:
"In the Mesolithic, cord has been recovered made from lime, elm, juniper, willow and rowan bast...
Historical records include the use of mosses, grasses, heather, lime, birch, hazel, beech, yew, pine and spruce...
The best bast is obtained from young trees cut in early summer,
though collecting it at this time implies a retting process lasting
several weeks, to degrade the soft tissues and separate the bast
from the outer bark. Bast can be processed more quickly in early
spring as the sap is rising, or in winter, in which case the bast can be
separated rapidly over a fire."
Hardy, Karen 2018. "Plant use in the Lower and Middle Palaeolithic: Food, medicine and raw materials"
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2018.04.028

Practical examples:

Cedar bast
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TAD1w8NUeic

Willow bast
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wbf1Yr1j1ZM

Spruce root bast
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JK6TnLPpfQE

[Roheline]

I haven't had a chance to read through all the articles yet, but as the person who (I think) put out the original post about it, I find it really interesting too!

Of course, I've spent untold hours creating a historically accurate dyeing mod using modded in extensively researched plants, so my nerd quotient is pretty high here.