Forward into the Past...

Indeed. I am soon going to be done with the hickory bowstave that I chose to transform into a semi-paleolithic bow. I have no arrows for it yet, in part because the final draw weight is not yet known. It looks to wind up around 45#@28", which is perfect for hunting and an aging hunter. ;)

Alongside that are the paleolithic items to accompany it, or the Ötzi kit, since it is heavily based off of this 5300 year old mans' gear. The quiver, some birchbark containers, dried fungus on a thong, etc. 

With those, of course, are the items of clothing; leggings, breechcloth, shirt, over tunic, and hat, not to mention footwear. Now I am not recreating his footwear, instead using something more akin to the Scythian moccasin boot. I am not doing a full on reenactment after all, but a kind of primitive living bit of exercise of my own devising. 

There is the atlatl too, which appears to have been concurrently developed with the bow, the sling and its stones, flint points and pieces, a bronze knife instead of a bronze axe, since I have blades for the former but not the latter. Fire making kit, both friction and striker. Believe it or not, bronze can be used as a striker too.

I cannot hunt with the atlatl, but I can hunt with a paleolithic kind of bow..and during bow season I have no need of orange so I can wear the entire kit and see how things work out.

Along with all of this is a change to a modified paleolithic kind of diet, that is, heavy on meats, fruits, berries, and vegetables, along with roots and tubers, but very light on the grains and grain derived foods. Too, the movement to free range meats and 'organic' foods in general, while expensive, is cheaper in the long run due to better health and reduced costs there. I am already feeling better and I expect that will get even more pronounced down the line, assuming I do not fall off the wagon.

In a way, I suppose it could be said I am 'going paleo' but in my own direction. As ever.

I am enjoying the hand skills; flint working, bow making, etc. They are useful skills to have. I suspect if civilization went loopy I'd wind up leading a kind of nomadic hunting-gathering life, more or less. It would certainly be a (hard) educational experience. That said, I am not expecting it for this lifetime.

I do find it interesting that comparisons of skulls from early hunter-gatherers and early farmer-herders have remarkable differences in dentition and structure. The former have good teeth, properly grown in wisdom teeth, and larger jaws. The latter have horrid teeth, smaller jaws, and wisdom teeth growing in wrongly. I see arguments on both sides about these things and not being an expert myself, leave it to those folk to argue over. As a simple individual, it would seem to me that the former skulls come from healthier individuals, although I will bet bodies show a much harder life than the latter.

Things to think on.

Eledhwen