Avoiding the use of twined cordage

[Sappy]

After spending pretty extreme amounts of time harvesting, processing and twining serious amounts of cordage in wondering about methods of avoiding the need for twined cordage which is probably a better thing to know about than proper cordage technique.

Obviously the simplest solution is to use materials that can be used without much processing like roots, vines, ivy, brambles, withies, interlocking forked branches, rawhide etc

Another solution to the use of long heavy ropes, is using braided withies, willow wands, brambles. Cattail stalks etc

In the realm of primitive skills I can't see much use for heavy rope the exception being, hawsers for bridge building, snares for very large animals, and a few others but these jobs are pretty much never undertaken with the exception of possibly hanging large game for skinning but this can be done just as effectively on the floor.

Did our ancestors every used long heavy twined ropes?
Are there any other methods of avoiding the need for it?

 

[Toddy]

Uhuh, they did.
We have an example of honeysuckle rope from the upturned oak that was the centre of SeaHenge, we know of them for use on ships and boats, for fishing and mining...........pretty sure I came across a link to one of the finds in the salt mines in central Europe for that.
The grass ropes are also used to tether hay stacks, hold down the thatching with boulders tied on the end and for climbing and windlasses/wells.

You could use leather for many of those applications, but leathermaking is incredibly time consuming without industrialisation, but it won't work for all of them. Things we would perhaps use chains for would have been too expensive, metal isn't really that freely available through most of human history.

There's a man who lives up your neck of the woods who demonstrates Traditional and historical rope making. Robby....???? have a google, he demos at places like the Crannog centre. Why not try to get along to one of his talks and chat to him. He's easy company, very capable, knowledgeable and always happy too get folks involved.
Might change your perception of how hard it is to make good rope

cheers,
M

 

[Sappy]

Interesting.

Grass rope in my experience degenerates pretty rapidly unprotected but even otzi had grass cordage kept intact.

I dont think its difficult to make good rope, its really very simple just incredibly time consuming, surely anywhere possible something else would be used to save time.

They only real advantage to using rope over say braided willow wands for hauling in fishing nets etc is ease of portability and storage, for applications where flexibilty isn't needed as much as strengh braided withiesrs would be quicker to make and probably stronger than using an equal sized rope

 

[AussieVic]

Another use: Heavy ropes were used to draw fishing nets across rivers.

 

[boatman]

A very popular cordage was made from walrus hide for ship use. Link to the Viking Museum gives a nice outline of this and other types of rope.

http://www.vikingeskibsmuseet.dk/en/research/maritime-technology/ropes/

The walrus was a very popular if dangerous animal to hunt for hides and its ivory tusks, following diminishing herds northwards and westwards in prehistoric and early medieval times may have lead to settlements in Iceland, Greenland and North America before the Vikings.


I have a cherished crossbow nut made from walrus ivory obtained years ago from the States from Inuit people. Never wanted to risk it in a crossbow though! Just keep it as a link.

 

[bushwacker bob]

Straw Ropes were in regular use until at least the 18th C. Examples can still be found underneath many old thatched roofs.

 

[bilmo-p5]

I dont think its difficult to make good rope, its really very simple just incredibly time consuming, surely anywhere possible something else would be used to save time.

Good quality rope would have been (and still is) a saleable/barterable commodity. Ropemaking would have been a full time occupation, so the time limitations which govern the quantity of rope you can make would not have been such an issue.

 

[Satyr]

I think the idea is to use lots of people to make a big rope:
http://www.reuters.com/news/pictures/slideshow?articleId=USRTR2F69X#a=2

This bridge is re-made out of grass every year by around 1000 people all chipping in.

 

[Paul W]

Sinew is another alternate to cordage used in prehistory, not yet mentioned , Otzi had some on him if I remeber correctly, and it's a lot stronger than leather.