Surviving the Stoneage Channel 4

[Man of Tanith]

EP #2 was better than #1, but I’ve always been surprised how much apparently ‘free’ time people have on these things. I’m sure it’s just an editing thing but it strikes me that folk from the supposed era would be flat out gathering / hunting for food, firewood, fruit and so on. My other half was impressed how clean their buckskin clothes remained as well. It just seems a bit at odds with a group of people who are living and working hard in a forest

There was no pottery in Europe in the Mesolithic as far as I'm aware; certainly of the quality that they are using (happy to be corrected).

Hunter Gatherers are documented as needing 4hrs a day "working" to meet their calorific requirements.


Buckskin is most effective when kept clean just like regular clothing and benefits from being kept clean or just not worn to avoid getting grubby.
(I also suspect Theresa would of been nagging to keep the buckskin clean)


pottery may not of been found in Europe in that time period but where did it state it was specifically intended to mimic European Mesolithic?

At least 3 participants are American individuals Nicole,Matt and Theresa and i believe Lynx lives there as well.
Perhaps its more stoneage to the general public on a saturday night than those who will apply a fine toothcomb?

 

[Broch]

pottery may not of been found in Europe in that time period but where did it state it was specifically intended to mimic European Mesolithic?

At least 3 participants are American individuals Nicole,Matt and Theresa and i believe Lynx lives there as well.
Perhaps its more stoneage to the general public on a saturday night than those who will apply a fine toothcomb?

Yes, I appreciate that; I was just curious as to when they were emulating. I take your point that it doesn't need to be a specific period - after all the Mesolithic and Neolithic lasted some 8,000 years in Britain alone!

 

[paulds]

They've mentioned 50,000 years ago a few times. This isn't supposed to be the farmers who migrated around 8,000 years ago, it's meant to be the much earlier hunter gatherers.

It's hard to say with regards to pottery. Archaeology can only prove what is in the ground. The old saying absence of evidence is not evidence of absence. The oldest found pottery is circa 20,000 years old in China. Pottery is made from organic material so it's possible it breaks down eventually depending on quality of the material it's made from and how it was fired combined with the composition of the soil it's in. They may have used bladders or skins. What's for certain is that they would most certainly have developed a technology for carrying water.

I think the thing that disappointed me was the hunting. It's the most basic aspect of hunting that the hunter needs to be upwind of their prey and therefore has to spot the prey from a distance and circle around to approach from upwind. I have a feeling that the production team again would've interfered to have them fail before succeeding much like last episode's fishing. I suppose it would be really dull for the TV programme if these experts went into the field and just thrived without issue.

 

[Broch]

They've mentioned 50,000 years ago a few times. This isn't supposed to be the farmers who migrated around 8,000 years ago, it's meant to be the much earlier hunter gatherers.

Yeh, I caught that. There is no evidence of 'fired' pottery in Europe anywhere near that time and it's generally accepted it didn't get here for quite a while later. It seems unbelievable to me that there was not 'dried clay' vessels in the Mesolithic though; but no evidence of that will have survived.

'Fired' Pottery is one of the most long lasting of any archaeological finds; if there was any in Europe it would have been found by now IMHO.

 

[paulds]

Yeah I wasn't suggesting that there are older pottery that could fit that era. I'm just saying that archaeology can only say we haven't found it and on the balance of probabilities it doesn't exist. Theresa did make a birch bark container which could carry water

 

[punkrockcaveman]

Watched the first episode last night. I thought it was awesome! Agreed about the production meddling too much.

However, all the experts involved seem to be a very high calibre, very impressive skills on show

 

[MartiniDave]

Enjoying this a lot so far. Thanks for the heads-up Sam.

 

[oldtimer]

I'm afraid the clay pot screamed "Careless" to me, but it is my specialist area.. Producers should really guard against the nit picking viewers like us who are probably their largest and most attentive audience. Whenever I see an error on any programme purporting to be fact based, I have a little bet with myself that something I have missed has been noticed by someone with special knowledge in another field.

PS I'm enjoying the programme though, so thanks from me too for the heads up!

 

[TinkyPete]

I have been watching it up on catch up. I have really enjoyed it very educational and interesting.....please more of the same and get rid of soap operas and naff talent shows

 

[Broch]

Now steady boys; don't get too exited

 

[paulds]

Well a very good last episode. Glad to see our Theresa was well featured. She also answered the oldest pottery question too. I enjoyed it, I think that it's something that would be really interesting archaeologically as a more long term project but that doesn't make good tv. I think they got the balance just about right. I won't mention what they were using boiling water for

 

[paulds]

Now steady boys; don't get too exited

 

[Buckshot]

i agree. I enjoyed it although i think there was some editing license taken to add to the story telling.
for instance, they didn't get the deer on the penultimate day.

But it does tell the story to the viewer well.
Even though these people are skilled there is no substitute to getting out there and really doing it.
Getting to within 10m of your target takes some doing. most deer stalkers using a rifle generally get no closer than say 70m in woodland, often 3 times that on more open ground.
As you say great to see T

 

[Broch]

Yep, I enjoyed it. The cynic in me wonders if they really did shoot the deer with a B&A - Bulgaria has some very strong hunting laws - but I'm quite happy to believe they did.

 

[Man of Tanith]

Yep, I enjoyed it. The cynic in me wonders if they really did shoot the deer with a B&A - Bulgaria has some very strong hunting laws - but I'm quite happy to believe they did.

i assure you they did

 

[TLM]

Getting to within 10m of your target takes some doing

Two things, downwind and a lot of patience. I have once walked within 25m of a grown elk and year old calf. Started about 350m away on an open field and after more than an hour was that close. Realized that just maybe it was not a bright idea to be too close to them when they would escape. One hand wave and they were away, luckily away from me.

 

[Hammock_man]

3rd programme was so much better all round. Putting all 3 together it was still worth watching. I was left with a (reinforced) feeling of just how B***dy hard it was just to make it through to the next day. Yes they had skills, they knew their part of the world, their brain was as big as ours today so on and so on.......but what a grindingly hard brutal day to day fight it was.

 

[Broch]

Two things, downwind and a lot of patience. I have once walked within 25m of a grown elk and year old calf. Started about 350m away on an open field and after more than an hour was that close. Realized that just maybe it was not a bright idea to be too close to them when they would escape. One hand wave and they were away, luckily away from me.

I've told this story before I'm sure ... A long time ago I was walking with my brother-in-law through a wooded park and on a large area of grassland was a herd of red deer grazing - a mix of stags, does and calves. My BIL decided he was going to get close to take a photo so he crouched down low, moved very slowly, stopping now and then if a deer raised its head - it took forever. He got to within 25 metres or so and was just about to raise his camera when a bloke and his dog walked between him and the herd - not more than 10 metres from the nearest deer which didn't even stop grazing - I've never let him forget it.

 

[MartiniDave]

I really enjoyed the series in general. My wife, who is my long suffering co-watcher of "survival" type TV shows with me, and barely managed to suppress a roll-eyes when I suggested we watch it, but after about the first 5 minutes actually sat up and paid attention to it, commenting how different it was to see a group cooperating to survive, rather than the confrontational bickering of shows like Naked and Afraid or Dual Survival.
All in all a good series.

Dave

 

[Suffolkrafter]

Finally got round to watching the series. I thought it was great. As others have said it wasn't in depth and could have done with many more episodes, but then I guess they're aiming for a wide audience. It was just nice to watch 'reality tv' in which participants all seemed to be decent, knowledgeable people. I would be very happy to spend time with any of them.
In particular, the skill and respect shown in hunting and butchering the deer was quite something. Makes me want to go on a hide tanning course.