boiling water without a metal container ???
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bark container full of water, hot rocks from the fire put into the water.......dah dahhhhhhh, hot/almost boiling water...
So how did our ancestors go about heating up water with out the use of metal pans ??
Which ancestors pre bronze or Iron. Just a guess, a leather chaggle would have warm water if close enough to a open fire.
I think our ancestors didn't bother with boiling water. They just drank it as / when / if they found it. Knowledge of water being a cause of diseases is only of 'recent' time.
Preping food would be as you would see with the San bushman: in the coals of a fire or just eat it raw as is.
If you don't have a container, you could create a shallow hole in the ground. Line it with clay or an animal skin and use hot rocks. Bamboo is another option if around
Preping food would be as you would see with the San bushman: in the coals of a fire or just eat it raw as is.
If you don't have a container, you could create a shallow hole in the ground. Line it with clay or an animal skin and use hot rocks. Bamboo is another option if around
just trying to join up the dots to `living` in todays lifestyle ... very hard to live with out a metal pan or kettle !!
You can boil water in a plastic bag/glass bottle if you're desperate (or put a ceramic mug in the microwave)!
I think many of the worries of water sanity we have did not exist in those times, maybe a dead carcase or two but none of the man made stuff pumped into the environment we have today. It's only my opinion but I think they had much cleaner water due partly to the much lower levels of human waste of whatever kind.
There was a 'man woman wild' program on recently where they heated water with the hot rock method in some sort of natural container. It was funny as the water went in clear and appetizing but came out brown and cloudy but safe to drink!!
Also I think that clay pots have been in use for cooking for a very long time, well before metal was abundant enough and used for the same purpose.
Steve.
There was a 'man woman wild' program on recently where they heated water with the hot rock method in some sort of natural container. It was funny as the water went in clear and appetizing but came out brown and cloudy but safe to drink!!
Also I think that clay pots have been in use for cooking for a very long time, well before metal was abundant enough and used for the same purpose.
Steve.
Clay pots, birch bark pots, skin lined pits et al all using hot rocks perhaps but I doubt hot water was high on the agenda. I suspect if you could not eat food raw or cook using a fire (over, under, embers, rocks etc) you'd not eat it. I doubt there is anymore evidence to show our very distant ancestors sat down to a cup of pine needle tea than there is that they used friction fire lighting (in the UK), both of which are slim options in the real world of basic everyday survival.
Ye Oldie bushcraft must have been grim times to live to say the least.
Ye Oldie bushcraft must have been grim times to live to say the least.
Was there not a program on the old box not long ago that went into the theory of why the population suddenly started to thrive when they started to cook stuff they had instead of eating it raw and thus releasing the nutrients better?
Steve.
Steve.
Well it could have started in Asis Minor or South America, quick glance at wiki mentions using turtle shells as a solution while bamboo sealed using clay.
Absolutely no idea but I wonder if the first was just a bit of copper pounded flat with maybe a rim added soon after?
Steve.
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In Norway cooking vessels of soapstone was used long after iron came into use.
They are easy to make, and have a nice heat distribution.
They are easy to make, and have a nice heat distribution.
There are many processes that require hot water like dying cloth for example which we know has a very ancient history.
Having said that we know that boiling water with hot rocks survives into quite recent history and is very efficient in fact.
In this demonstration, water is being heated with rocks for dying cloth in a wooden trough as we know was done in various Viking Age contexts even though iron pots such as the one on the fire behind were also available.
Having said that we know that boiling water with hot rocks survives into quite recent history and is very efficient in fact.
In this demonstration, water is being heated with rocks for dying cloth in a wooden trough as we know was done in various Viking Age contexts even though iron pots such as the one on the fire behind were also available.
As others have said, I dout they bothered, dont forget as recently as the 1800's, londoners were drinking water with turds literally floating in the mug. We didnt realise it was bad for you till very recently, in the scheme of things.
Having said that, probably the same way RM does, when I was studying Neolithic man we were repeatedly shown examples from the inuit & Abo's.
Having said that, probably the same way RM does, when I was studying Neolithic man we were repeatedly shown examples from the inuit & Abo's.
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