boiling water without a metal container ???

[udamiano]

and of course don't forget that the Roman had the technology to produce hot water, that they also used for bathing. I would imagine a suitably fired pot made of clay can be heated in a fire sufficiently for its content to boil. and as Wayland states, the dying process has been around for a very long time, and the heat is needed to activate the dye. I would not be to surprised that originally volcanic hot springs were used either as hot water for non consumption like dying or cleaning..etc, and later for heating water in sealed containers or such like. In japan at one site the hot spring is used to boil eggs which are then sold to the visitors

 

[gliderrider]

Am I wrong in thinking that the water for the baths was heated in large stone basins with a fire beneath, and a sluice to the pool? I must admit, I sort of blanked the romans a bit, all those silly forign names were a bit much for me when I was a kid.

 

[udamiano]

Am I wrong in thinking that the water for the baths was heated in large stone basins with a fire beneath, and a sluice to the pool? I must admit, I sort of blanked the romans a bit, all those silly forign names were a bit much for me when I was a kid.

Some were and other were attached to naturally heated springs, but you have the idea yes

 

[gliderrider]

Ooh, Nice, cant have been too slack in the old days then.

 

[udamiano]

No otherwise you were given to the Roman endangered species welfare office, big cat division, and thus start a spectacular if short career in theatre

 

[Highbinder]

Sure I've seen Les Stroud boil water in his hat with hot rocks. Poor hat.

 

[AuldJum]

Clay pots can be used with rocks or straight in a fire but it's difficult to get good clay and make them well.

Birch bark can be used with rocks or in the flame, it's difficult to find good quality bark in Britain though.

I've been experimenting with using fire to hollow out a log to boil water in but getting a good capacity is a long and labourious process and you'll most likely need to use pine pitch as they tend to split slightly during the hollowing process.

Any rock concavity can be used with rocks to boil water in or you could probably dig a hole in heavy clay soil as that will hold water.

These are the methods i'm familiar with.

 

[oldtimer]

Making suitable clay pots is fairly easy if you know what you are doing, and our ancestors did.There are plenty of books to tell you how. They can be used to heat water or cook on a fire. I sometimes do this with spanish eathenware dishes. What makes them break (apart from dropping them) is heat shock. The trick is to heat and cool slowly. So, fill the pot, put on the coolest part of the fire eg embers, then slowly build the fire up round it. When taking it off fire, don't put it down on something cold, like a rock. Pottery is not the best option for nomads, hence the rocks in water trick mentioned by many above. Pottery really came into its own when pastoral nomads became farmers. Contrast cooking techniques of plains and pueblo nations,for example.

 

[Chasing Rainbows]

I heard they simply used an animals bladder or stomach with a knot in one end, hung over the fire. Apparently they don't burn because water seeping through keeps the container at 100c or below.

I'm not sure how true this is, but it seems to make sense.

 

[gliderrider]

Isnt it also similar to the reason steal boilers dont melt? The fire box can be 1000 Deg C above its melt point, but because the water inside is cold, it acts as a barrior, or something, dont really understand the science myself.

 

[Chiseller]

Anyone tried the boiling water in a plastic bag on an open fire method ? Seen it mentioned somewhere ?

 

[user24]

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)

remember though that evidence is scarce due to the amount of time involved, and also that many things will not survive in the archaeological record. What kind of evidence could there possibly be of fire by friction being used by neo/paleo-lithic man? We know they used stone tools because stone doesn't rot. Anything organic will have been destroyed by acids in the soil or natural decomposition a long time back. Lack of evidence is not evidence of lack.

The only thing I can think of that would prove its pre-historical use would be if we had a cave painting demonstrating it in use, or a bog body with a preserved fire making kit.

 

[IanM]

Anyone tried the boiling water in a plastic bag on an open fire method ? Seen it mentioned somewhere ?

Yes, forty years ago as a Scout. The trick is to turn the plastic bag inside out so the excess seam material is inside and keep the flame away from the plastic that is not backed by water. Tie the bag with a string and suspend it close to the heat but never touching a coal. It will take a direct fierce heat OK as long as that heat is directed to the water backed plastic.

The plastic is cooled by the water so it does not melt and the thinner the bag the better. I would guess that a modern plastic milk container would be too thick and not conduct the heat away from the outer surface fast enough, perhaps someone could try?

I have also used a paper bag using the same principles but the bag needs to be waxed or waterproofed or it goes soggy too quickly and a folded birch-bark box placed on a red hot rock also worked well but was too awkward to suspend over a fire.