Paleolithic breechcloth from Gunnera

The other day I came across some Gunnera and was pretty amazed about the pliability and durability of the fibres.  Since there have been some new insights lately about paleolithic clothing, I thought I would give it a go.  Not an archaeological experiment yet, since no decent documentation yet, just a first try at making something more textile which is nothing short of a key skill. Extracting the fibres is dead easy: you just break the stalks and remove the bark and split it with your fingernails.  I then made some cordage...

The first 2m I just fingerlooped together.  

Made another 2m. 

And another.  
 

Using a wooden needle I carved from elm I looped stuff together any which way. The magic troll might have a lot to say to that, but I imagine that it was not much different to the way our ancestors learned.  

To date, that is a friggin 6m of cordage.  I will keep you posted! 

Stripping nettles for fibres (German in video)

Long time, no see, folks. I want to use the occasion to apologize. `Course it is easy to blame others for one´s own mistakes, but fact is, there have been a lot of shitty things that have occured to me that were beyond my control. So this blog is in a sorry state. ´Nuff said, I sincerely thank you for your patience!

This video is somewhat important to me... the magic troll and I just sat in the woods and looked at the sunlight through the leaves. Now the magic troll is absolutely ace when fibres are concerned, and fact is, I had somewhat a hard time getting to terms with cordage-so this little really agreeable outing helped a lot. The language is in German, but I guess the pictures tell a story of their own, and will help people trying to figure out one way to do it as much as that session helped me myself. And, of course, one thing is crucial: Don´t make a big fuss, just get out and try it. Make it sustainable, of course, but don´t be shy, just try! ;-)