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"Primitive (first) skills are our shared inheritance.
It is the shared thread which links us to our prehistory
and binds us together as human beings."
Quote by Steve Watts

Knowledge is not complete until it is passed on.
But, the knowledge that is passed on must be complete.
Quote by Dino Labiste

Primitive Techknowlogy
Ancient Techniques for the Future

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WHAT'S NEW	2020 CALENDAR OF CLASSES & EVENTS

 

RESOURCES	Stone Age Technology	E-mail Questions Answered Recommended Books & Magazines Movies of Interest (Entertainment, Educational, and How-To videos) "Native American Buffalo Robes, A Study of their Role in Plains Indian Societies and a Guide to Traditional Tanning Techniques" by Markus Klek "Stone Age Engineering" by Dick Baugh Stores that Offer Resources for Primitive Technology Projects TRADING POST - items for sale KAHIKO Arts
WORKSHOPS & CLASSES	Education Cultural History	California Knappers What to Teach Kids and Why Sharing Old Ways With The Young First Skills (Interview with Norm Kidder on Wildebeat.net)
FIRE MAKING & PRIMITIVE COOKING	Dakota Stove with Clay Pot	Ancient Fire Making (Interview with Dino Labiste on Wildebeat.net) Fire Carbon - Catalyst To Fire Some Uses of Fire Evidence of Ancient Campfires Campfire Construction - How to Build a Fire The Miracle of Fire-by-Friction The Miracle of Fire-by-Friction, Revisited 3 Fire-by-Friction Methods (video) Fire Thong The Egyptian Bow Drill Making Fire with a Bow Drill Making Fire with a Hand Drill Hand Drill Fire Making (videos) Thumb Loop Hand Drill Article on PaleoPlanet Forum by CA Knapper (a.k.a. Dino Labiste) A Friction Fire Inquiry: Hand Drill Starting Fire with a Lens Made From Ice! Fire Piston Fire Piston: Primitive Technology for the 21st Century Bamboo Strike-A-Light Paleolithic Stone on Stone Fire Technology Fire-by-Percussion & Fire-by-Compression (video) The Two-Stick Hearthboard Hearthboard Variations Spindle Extension for a Fire Bow Drill Scarfing a Fire Spindle Fire-by-Friction Methods of the Australian Aborigines Smallest Bow Drill Fire-by-Friction Set Friction Fire Woods and Successful Wood Combinations Fire-By-Friction: Materials of the San Francisco Bay Region Fire-by-Friction with Damp Materials Fire Tube Got Tinder? Substitutes for Tinder Fungus Waterproof Fire Starter Fire Roll Geriatric Friction Fire Starting With Fire (Interview with Dino Labiste on Wildebeat.net) Primitive Cooking Adobe Horno Bamboo Rice Cooker Imu - Hawaiian Underground Oven Pit Oven Boiling With Hot Stones Boil Water in a Cabbage Leaf Salmon Cooking Cattail Pollen Pancakes
PRIMITIVE TOOLS & PROJECTILES	Archery	California Knapping Mesoamerican Prismatic Blade Production from Obsidian (video) Flintknapping Videos by Ken Peek Flintknapping Videos by Dick Baugh Flintknapping Videos by Ken Kehoe The Secrets of the Sinew Internal Friction on Bow Limbs Bow and Arrow Efficiency Wooden Bow Lethargy Miracle of Bowyery Ötzi's Bow Cordage Backed Bow Making an Asiatic Composite Bow Making a Bow From a Sapling Simple, Cheap & Effective Bows and Arrows Using a Hatchet to Make a Bow A Foolproof Method for Bow Tillering Making a Board Bow Fletching Jig Fletching By Hand Feather Clamp Arrow Straightening A Simple Scale for Weighing Arrows Grow Your Own Bowstring Archer's Thumb Ring Making an Archer's Thumb Ring from Cow Horn, Antler or Bone Making an Atlatl from a Branch Other Types of Atlatls: Loop, Fork and Cord The Split and Wedge Atlatl Field Points for Atlatl Darts Jiffy Arrow & Atlatl Dart Fletch Using Duct Tape Atlatl Rest, Safety Loop & Anti-Gravity Device (AGD) Joining Two Atlatl Shafts with a Scarf and Tube Method The Scarf Key Ice Glue Atlatl Dart Tuning Atlatl Flexibility Analysis The Dynamics of Spear Throwing Simple Atlatl Spear Thrower Construction Atlatl Spur from the San Francisco Bay Area Atlatl in Ancient Rock Art The Shingle Dart Fun with Cattails: The Whip Dart Bamboo Clay Thrower Gourd Shot Gun Sling How to Make a Wooden Canoe Paddle Spears, Weirs and Traps The Basics of Woodworking with Stone Age Tools Making a Bone Awl with Stone Tools Manufacturing Abalone Shell Circular Fish Hook: California's Chumash Style Antler Fishing Hook Nasal Bone Hook The Hoko Knife - A quick, simple stone tool Bamboo Knife (videos) Antler Handle Knife The Stone Saw The Scapular Saw Crystal-Tipped Hand Drill Scallop Baking Shells A Performance of Various Pacific Northwest Shell Types as Containters for Melting Pitch Opening a Coconut with a Stone
MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS & BELIEFS	Puniu Coconut Knee Drum	Bone Flutes Primitive Quail Call Primitive Hand Made Reed Flute Horsetail Pan Flute Sycamore Membranophone Puniu - Hawaiian Knee Drum Deer Hoof Rattle Musical Instruments of Central California Kubing - Traditional Bamboo Instrument Black Walnut Rattle Random Thoughts on Tradition vs. Technology Primitive Crystal Light! Mount Diablo Tule Basket Weaving Thoughts Link to "A Charmstone Discovery in the Redwood Forests of Mendocino County, California" Link to "Banjo" type ornaments made of red abalone
EARLY TECHNOLOGY & TRADITIONAL SKILLS	Deer Scapular Saw	Back to the Pleistocene The Ohlone Peoples: Botanical, Animal and Mineral Resources Weaving a Lauhala Mat Processing Shark Skin into Rawhide Fresh-Scrape Braintan Buckskin Tutorial Wringing Net for Small and Slippery Hides Brain Tanned Buffalo Hides Tanning a Fox Hide More Than One Way to Skin a Critter (Part I) More Than One Way to Skin a Critter (Part II) Pelt Bag Removing Deer Hooves Making a Folded Bark Basket How to Weave a Basket, a Primer Homo sapiens - A Basket Case Southern California Pottery Rocks, Minerals and Decorative Stones Used by the California Indians How to Paint a Mammoth Black Dye Cordage Making (videos) Making Cordage By Hand Cordage in North America Cordage Fiber Shredder Made From Bone Processing Yucca Fibers The Ties that Bind and Bindings that Tie What Knot to Use in a Primitive Situation Waorani Hammock Waorani Fishing Net Pomo Netting How to Make a Rabbit Skin Blanket Some Uses of Ermine Moth Caterpillar Silk Introduction To Tule Ethnobotany Twined Tule Mat Pomo Tule Bittern Klamath Twined Tule Visor Paiute Tule Duck Decoy Cattail Duck Cattail Doll Tule Boat Project Dugout Canoe Building a Skin-On-Frame Kayak Four Hour Kayak Ajumawi Fish Traps Inuit Thimble Ulchi-Style Bear Amulet Willow Rake Smoothing with Sand, Even-ing with Equisetum How to Make Pine Pitch Pitch - Primitive Epoxy Birch Bark Tar The Three-Stick Roycroft Pack Frame The Iceman's Belt Making a Leather Knife Sheath Deer Hide Knife Sheath Steam Bending Wood Log Ladder Wilderness Grooming Primal Grooming (Interview with Susan Labiste on Wildebeat.net) Falconry - Modern and Traditional Thirty Years in the Jungle!
USEFUL PLANTS & SHELTERS	Tule (bulrush) House	Was Agriculture a Good Idea, or an Act of Desperation? Calendar of Harvesting and Gathering Coppicing Gathering Basket Making Materials (videos) Bare-Handed Basket Useful Plants of California (1) Useful Plants of California (2) Useful Plants of California (3) Chinquapin Plants of California: Soap Plant (Chlorogalum pomeridianum) Dogbane (Apocynum cannabinum) - Cordage Fibers Nature's General Store: The Yuccas and Agaves Acorn Granaries of California The Ti Plant Called Ki Olona Plants of Oceania: Kou (Cordia subcordata) Hawaiian Plants (a trip to the Big Island) Bamboo Thoughts and Curing Bull Whip Kelp Fishing with Poisons Fishing with Hawaiian Plants Wild Shelters (Interview with Norm Kidder on Wildebeat.net) Thatched Ohlone Style House Tule House Project Wigwam How to Build an Igloo Scout Pit The Primitive Sauna
EVENTS & PRIMITIVE TRIPS	Tule (bulrush) Boat	I Belong To This Country (an Australian adventure) Native California Fall Gathering at San Luis Reservoir State Recreation Area Rattlesnake Rendezvous Australian Aborigine Flint Knapping Primitive Field Day at Stanford University Wilderness Survival Skills Wilderness Survival Skills Revisited Primitive Skills Campout Coyote Hills Knap-In and The Gathering of Ohlone Peoples Winter Count Rabbitstick Rendezvous
HAND-MADE TOOLS & URBAN RESOURCES	Portable Shaving Horse	How to Make Your Own Steel Knives A Cutting Edge: Creating a Steel Blade in a Primitive Setting The Miracle of Steel Heat Treatment Knife Sharpening Jig Two Bladed Pocket Knife from PVC and Hacksaw Blades Makng a Wallet Knife Folding Saw Johnstone Tools Horseshoe Nail Notching Tool Silverware Deadfall Survival Kit Portable Shaving Horse Urban Resources Alternative Supplies for Urban Dwellers Wilderness & Urban Tips Fire by Chemical Reaction Making Fire Using a Balloon How to Make a Simple Fire Piston Out of Hardware Store Material Fire Making Using Solar Power (video)
GALLERY & LINKS	Ko'i Hawaiian Stone Adze	Photo Gallery I Photo Gallery II Photo Gallery III Photo Gallery IV YouTube Videos: Skills of the Past & Present Interesting Links "The Info Super Highway Refugee" poem

 

 

PrimitiveWays began in 1998 and is produced by
Dino Labiste, Dick Baugh, Bob Gillis, Norm Kidder,
Chuck Kritzon, Ken Peek and Susan Labiste.

E-mail your comments to "Dino Labiste" at KahikoArts@yahoo.com, "Bob Gillis" at bob@shelter-systems.com,
"Richard A. Baugh" at richardbaugh@att.net, "Norm Kidder" at atlatl1@aol.com,"Chuck Kritzon" at chuckk@petroglyphics.com,
"Ken Peek" at kspeek123@att.net or "Susan Labiste" (e-mail address not available at this time).

The excerpts by Steve Watts summarizes our philosophy on practicing and teaching primitive technology.

Disclaimer: We hope the information on the PrimitiveWays website is both instructional and enjoyable. Understand that no warranty or guarantee is included. We expect adults to act responsibly and children to be supervised by a responsible adult. If you use the information on this site to create your own projects or if you try techniques described on PrimitiveWays, behave in accordance with applicable laws, and think about the sustainability of the natural resources. Using tools or techniques described on PrimitiveWays can be dangerous with exposure to heavy, sharp or pointed objects, fire, stone tools and hazards present in outdoor settings. Without proper care and caution, or if done incorrectly, there is a risk of property damage, personal injury or even death. So, be advised: Anyone using any information provided on the PrimitiveWays website assumes responsibility for using proper care and caution to protect property, the life, health and safety of himself or herself and all others. He or she expressly assumes all risk of harm or damage to all persons or property proximately caused by the use of this information.

 

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