Hafting with a Living Tree: A Historical Review of the Alleged Practice of Growth-Assisted Hafting

ABSTRACT

Despite facing the challenges of preservation and rarity of evidence in the archaeological record, hafting methods are a research pursuit of archaeologists seeking to explain the construction of weapons and tools. Various works have included references to a unique method of hafting, referred to in this article as growth-assisted hafting, which involved inserting a stone into a living tree branch and waiting for wood growth to encase the inclusion before harvesting and constructing the knife, club or axe. Such a method would lack toolmarks and exhibit some evidence in wood grain patterns and possible abnormal fiber build-up of continued tree growth around the inclusion. This paper is a historical review of the alleged practice based on accounts from around the world and how the practice has re-appeared in the modern primitive skills subculture.

KEYWORDS:

• Hafting
• axes
• clubs

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

Data sharing is not applicable to this article as no new data were created or analyzed in this study.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Don Arp

Don Arp, Jr., PhD, is an independent writer and researcher. Don is a graduate of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, where he received a Bachelor of Arts with Highest Distinction (History) and a Master of Arts (Archaeology). Don earned his PhD by Public Works from Middlesex University (London).