As a modern day spinner, knitter, weaver, etc, it is really a thrill to realize how very close my tools are to those used by ancient peoples.

Making tools depends on other tools to make them. And human hands and minds are the first tools we learnt to use. This is so educational and USEFUL. I'm always looking at "weeds" and plants and thinking, "how else could they be used, apart from mulch?" I live in a different country with different natural resources, but it seems so short-sighted not to recognize how practical our ancestors were. Those little bits of waste bast would have been used as 'fire starters' for sure.

This is brilliant. I know you need to do the academic write up, but I'd also love to see a small (or may not small) book on how to make and use all the tools, aimed at re-enactors and hobbyists. Regardless, I love your videos!

It's honestly almost shocking how well that tool shredded your lime bast, and you're right, that upper e-wrap looked and worked FANTASTIC! Can't wait to see what else you're making, Sally!

I'm so relieved to see that, by the end of the video, and obviously through extensive consultation with your colleagues, you've determined the proper use of such a tool, as demonstrated in the final 30 seconds.

"side tracked by a soap project" lol that sounds VERY familiar. I'm currently spinning up a bag of alpaca fibre on my little Turkish spindle, that I've had for almost a year, to complete a project that I started with a totally different bag of alpaca...... sidetracked is my middle name lol. Lovely to see a new video, Sally :)

That’s a really neat and effective tool, and surely our ancestors would have found that “e-wrap” just as pleasing as we do. Looking forward to seeing the evolution of your Neolithic toolkit!

Nice work. Yup, that should work just fine heckling flax. I use my mini wool combs to heckle the small amount of flax I grow every year. So yeah, likely was a multipurpose tool. Be useful combing ends of wool locks for spinning & nalebinding joins… cleaning furs & suede, once broke in even long hair brushing. Sweet little tool.

Your videos are always so interesting! Have you ever worked with swamp milkweed fiber? Asclepias incarnata. It's native to North America so you may not have it there. I recently discovered they have extremely strong, soft fibers that are really easy to work with. I collected the stalks after they sat all winter on the plant. It was almost like they retted themselves and the fibers peeled off super easily. I imagine indigenous peoples here probably used it (they're definitely known to have used wild cotton, Apocynum canabium which is in the same family)

I think it's wonderful that you and your colleagues are sharing your research with the public, both online and off. You make it so accessible and friendly.

So interesting! Thanks for sharing your research and experimentation with us Sally. It's always a fascinating watch. The bonus cat footage was much appreciated :)

I'm officially a Sally Pointer fan boy! Love her work in the neolithic domain. Great to have someone so diligently experimenting.

Thought at first it was a filting needle bundle. But that is a neat tool

That is ingenious! The first thing I thought of once you began showing how to use that on the lime bast was - what might it do for wool? The sole time I've ever handled any tool even a LITTLE like that was when our class (primary school kids, in western Texas) was shown how to card wool with the sort of tools the Navajo people use. (Which if you can't tell, was a VERY impactful day of learning, because I can even recall how my hands smelled after, and I'm in my 40s now!) I made my first attempt at sourcing and making some cordage from plants growing right around me, but it did not work out; the plants I chose didn't behave at all in helpful ways, heh. But I did learn a lot about what to look for, and these plants are - well I'm not sure WHAT they are, the local colloquial name is "hedge-bush" which as I'm sure you can understand is the least accurate thing ever. Some sort of fast growing shrub, but since it had very straight stems and looked quite a lot like the nettles you've used in past videos, I thought it might work. Nope! Got all brittle and powdery. However I do know we have some type of cane or bamboo around here too, invasive stuff that no one will mind me taking as much as I want. And that DOES split into halves, so presumably if I do it right, that can be made to split much finer. I'm just waiting for the right time, when it has NOT been raining buckets every afternoon, to go out and grab some!

Man, I'd love to see you at an event, but I'm stuck in America... I'm very surprised that these tools survived so long, given they're just thorns and a bit of cordage. Such a simple tool but such a big effect; human tool use has really just been one big long history of optimizing production, because making things from scratch takes a lot of time, and I think that's lost on most modern people with modern tools and easy access to shops. It wasn't until I started trying to make some of my own stuff that I realized how VALUABLE even mundane things like a bundle of thorns would have been.

I don’t think anyone could design a modern tool that would do a better job! Our ancestors were brilliant.🤗❤️🐝

Absolutely fascinating watch! I was thinking of how perhaps these thorns could be used in heckle of some kind, and then I see that paddle you showed at the end! Looking forward to when you discuss that in future. Glad too to see the cat very happy with the historical tool at the end there too

I thought the little credit card sized photography scale was so neat that I tracked down "Past Horizons - tools for archeologists UK" and ordered two of them 😂

I love the addition of all the references you include at the end! Can’t wait to see how this works with nettle.

I sure like your demonstration of the cording technique. Very efficient.

One of the things I learned as a child with long hair, is that you start brushing out a tangle right near the ends - get that cleared, and then brush from a little higher up, and a little higher up, until you've moved all the way up to the scalp. I think you would get less breakage and tow from your raw materials if you treated combing them into fibres the same way.

Dear Sally, I love watching your videos cause I love those ancestry tools and how they improved their lives. I think, this thorn-tool you can also use to brush human hair (not only cats 🐱🙂)

Wow! It seems so simple in hindsight but the results really ups the quality of the fiber work! I'm in Southern Arizona so my available fibers aren't even close to most of what you show, yet through experiments after watching your videos I've found plants that are adequate (if not ideal) for cordage beyond the traditional plants used by the native Americas in the area. I'll have to find the right local equivalent to make a fiber comb the next time I'm foraging. Great video, Thanks!

Fascinating. When you used the tool the first time and it separated the tree stuff into such regular consistent ribbons I blinked in surprise at the tool's effectiveness. Thank you for sharing this.

Your videos are amazing! I'm not sure how I found your channel (I'm a weaver), but I've been watching your channel for quite a while. Thank you!

That was awesome. I had no idea where this was going until the fibers were shredded. Oh my. Add that to my list of projects.

oh my goodness I love these videos so much. They transport me to another time and place. Thank you for sharing them!

I love this. And I especially love the kitty at the end 😊

My son loved how you played on Mr Rogers. He would tell everyone that would listen about your music.

This is amazing. The work you do to recreate and test out ancient tools is truly beautiful. Thank you for sharing this with us.

Always interesting Sally! I do believe we need to remember old ways of doing things.

When I saw the tool you were going to make, my first thought was that it would be very helpful with felting wool.

Thank you for this! So fascinating. Yes, I'm sure that the original use of this tool was to scratch a kitty, and, at some point, someone realized the tool could be used for .... other things!

I wish there were still communities of people living this way. Thank you for sharing your craft.

Brilliant ; so informative and comfortable to watch …. I’m looking forward to trying it on nettles.

Fascinating. And I now know what to do with those wicked long thorns on my plum tree

Thank you for sharing! This idea is a game changer. I was lead here by soap, now cordage making! Now to find the wool comb. Kia ora!

Oh, wow, I wish we had blackthorn hedges here. Neolithic tools and what can be made with them are fascinating.

I'm in the USA, and last year, I found the native thorny honeylocust trees growing somewhere. I've seen the ones planted in urban areas before, but they are a variety that doesn't have thorns, so I was very surprised to see the thorny one. The thorns are very long, and I had been wondering what they could be used for. They're not individual thorns like those blackthorns, but they have multiple thorns branching off of each other. It could potentially still be used somehow. I also had someone give me a small number of porcupine quills and I wondered what those could be used for. But they have a barbed texture, which might not work for this.

NOW i shall collect the Thorns from Chickasaw Plum Trees as i Prune them back. Tree's Bark is Beautiful, always thought i should try to use it for something. *Thanks!*

Lovely. Valuing our commonality with our neolithic ancestors is certainly one of the tools that will help us address modern problems of imperialism and colonialism. The consistency of your cordage is very satisfying to see. I need to keep honing my skills. :-)

I personally see a multi-purpose tool here. As you demonstrated, an easy way to make fine fibres for cordage. I also see a Felting tool. It could be used to turn Protein Fibres into textile material, by repeatedly stabbing it into fibre bundles, for use as blankets, ground mats, Insulation, or even clothing. I'm not saying that the people of the time period were doing this, but it could have been used in such a manner. And it wouldn't be such a leap of the imagination to think they wouldn't have figured this out.

Those longer thorns looks like they would make really good sewing awls.

I love your videos, Sally. I have tried several of the techniques you have demonstrated and this is definitely another I will do. I am going to try it on fleece. You are a wonderful advertisement for the Exeter MSc, I sat there watching thinking that’s it, end the job and sign up! Will you be giving talks on your findings when you have finished?

you are indeed correct, scratching your cat is the main function of all brushes and combs :D

So amazing how innovative they were and that tool works like a charm, cannot think of a modern tool doing better than that!

wow i love textiles and tools! it's also so cool to see that techniques i use regularly, like making cords and knots, were well in use long ago.

Your introductions to early tools is wonderful and I am glad to have found your videos and thank you!

I didn't know such long thorns existed outside of the african savannah! If I ever encounter such things, I will be sure and remember how useful they are. Thorns here are either rose thorns, quarter inch spikes, or small raspberry type splinters to bedevil you for days.

brushes are really just useful for so many things outside of this textile processing application i imagine people were making and remaking these regularly

I think I am going to cheer really hard, all the way over here on the West Coast near Seattle, when you finally get your degree! Also, thank you for using the sizing/color calibration card and keeping it in view!

First you make a simple tool, then when the saved time. Then you make something pleasing, because beauty is soothing; and innately human.

This is such a nifty thing to see in action, because the fiber combing principle is still such an integral part of textile making even now... That said, your statement about them actually being for scratching the cat is a theory that I think will be widely adopted by feline academics. 😂

...That end scene there, all I could think was: Sally Pointer made, Freya's Son approved! (...since as you know, all cats are Freya's children!)

That’s fascinating! Especially as I have a whole load of blackthorn that’s I’ve been looking to use on a craft project like this!! Now to research how to ID, forage & prepare lime bast…. 😊

"sticky out bits" - the technical term ;)

Always nice to see a little Welsh representation. btw, the word (colour) 'Ddu' is pronounced like the English 'the' (vowel variation, the apple, the umbrella).

Ooooooh I'm excited to see more of these tools!

So glad I happened to see your videos, very interesting.

no kidding, my husband just came home with a basketful of thornless honey locust (which apparently cast thorns occasionally?). was wondering what to do with them. timely!

Thank you❤

you are back I am so happy! will try splitting rubarb wi¨hen I have made a " thornsplitter" I know where to find the thorns too!!

That was surprisingly fascinating! I wish I had known about tge neolithic open day before now because that sounds like a brilliant day out.

I find your tool making videos facinating. I wish I had half of your hand coordination.

What a treat on a cloudy Sunday afternoon!!A new video!

I love your videos and someday would like to take your classes, bit hard since I am in California.

I’m largely ignorant of all the fiber types used at this point, but my first thought was that it could have been used as a felting tool for animal fibers. Would that have been a possibility that early on, using fibers that were found on the thorns as animals brushed against them maybe?

Thank you for your work. Is there anyone else doing your type of work, showing detailed experimental archaeology on youtube? (like Dr. James Dilley does with flint work). Thanks again.

I absolutely love this video and immediately gathered the materials to make this thank you so much

Thank you so much great video. You are an amazing teacher you make it so accessable 😊

So very interesting. Thank you for sharing and making this video.

I could watch this woman all day!

I found this by chance and was so interested in the subject. Very informative. Tku

Outstanding!!!! Thank you.

Thank you for sharing this information ,I have hawthorn here and will give it a try .

Good job! Please make video about all these amazing tools at 18:42 Especially that spatula tool with thorns for carding a wool (sorry I don't know right English term and dictionary misunderstands me). My colleague artist uses same iron thing for felting and we are both fans of our Eneolithic archaeology so she would be really happy to see such reconstruction in work! I live in north Kazakhstan and there are lots of mounds of bronze age; few of them contained felt pieces around 4 thousand years old and it was a big find for ones who understand (others just need GOLD lol; they need to watch more of such reconstructing works to realize wonder of history evidences which looks like piece of rubbish at first sight)

That is one nifty little comb!

Hahaha, great Neolithic cat scratcher right there!

Brilliant ! Really interesting ! Thankyou 💐

Oh I’ve just discovered you and this is wonderful work ❤😊

Thanks for sharing. Really interesting tool. I wanted to make a flax hackle but the prices of nails are just crazy. Maybe the black thorn is the way to go 😍

Gutted I didn't make it to Bryn Cellu Ddu this year. I first saw you there a few years ago and was knocked out by your demonstration of nalbinding and sprang.

i finally found thorns!! im not sure what tree it is, but some branches had been trimmed at a local park and i noticed the beautiful spikes! not as large as yours but im hoping they'll work

right now i'm trying to make some natural soap and i've been making some fibers (using more modenr tools ;) ) from nettle... and I love making such things. And I love that you're sharing your skills on youtube so other people can also try to make it. Keep going and show people how to relax by keeping contact with nature and making their own crafty natural things

ooo...it's like a very portable hackle...i'm curious how it works on flax and nettle now.

that was delicious, thanks very much, sally👍🌱

Thank you Sally! 👏

Fascinating to see how well simple tools work so well! Thank you for sharing

this is insanely cool !!! it will never cease to amaze me just how ingenuitive humans are. good luck on your dissertation, and if the paper(s) you write are open access i'd be interested in reading them !!!

Very interesting, well done all around.

Thank you Sally!

This is fascinating! I was watching this and thinking of more "modern" tools, and surprise! You showed some of the items I was thinking of toward the end. I'll look forward to the next one!. Thanks so much.

Excellent video!! Thanks for all your hard work.

Always love seeing your videos.

Ah incredible!! I live 2 miles as the crow flies from Bryn Celli Ddu, just over the Menai. I would love to attend a similar event if it's a regular occurrence! Thank you so much for sharing this ❤️

The answer to life the universe and every thing.

This is fascinating. Thanks!

This is such a fun video. 🙌

Sally this is ace, love from the shed kilingon

I wonder if those needle bunches wouldn't also be used to poke animal fur, that sheds from various animals, into the clothing for warmth. Sort of like a felting tool.