neolithic (late stone age) reenacting

[TFLAVIUSAMBIORIX]

I am putting together a kit for c. 3500 B.C. europe, I was wondering if there are any other people doing this era, or interested in banding together with me for this era. This is the era sometimes called the 'copper age', If there are interested people who want to contact me you can e-mail me at: [email protected]

[Chariovalda]

That's...well, unusual.
Warrior or hunter or farmer? And what area? Southeastern Europe was already fairly sophisticated, but it gets really stone age-y towards the north and northwest.

Also hard to do in a way getting some audience interest, I think, unless you've got a Neolithic farm or village to make the late Neolithic environment more "tangible".

Anyway, best of luck!

[TFLAVIUSAMBIORIX]

northwest europe, in northern france. we are doing mostly hunters, with a few farmers, I am working on a period house, I actually have gear for back to 5000 B.C., I also deal in original artifacts of the era. our primary period, 4000-3500 B.C. is actually what is sometimes referred to as 'copper age'.

[TFLAVIUSAMBIORIX]

there are about 5 of us doing this. in this area and period warrior and hunter often run side by side, with the gear for combat being so similar to hunting.

[aitor iriarte]

I love specially eneolithic/early bronze age (specially the so-called Bell-beaker culture) I made some bone, stone and copper items many, many years ago but I started thinking about the clothing and other things and concluded that it is more what we ignore about those people than what we know...
I'd love to see som pics from your group, can you post them here, please?

Aitor

[TFLAVIUSAMBIORIX]

unfortunately I have no pictures yet, I will try to remember to have somebody take one of me. yes, we actually have a ton of sources for the gear, but most people just ignore the era, we have the iceman with a fully preserved kit, even better preserved than most roman pieces, and we have catal huyuk, and numerous bog sites. but with that we also have the indications of cannabalism, violent tribal raids, slavery, human sacrafice, and other things considered barbaric. also depending what culture or era it is some of the clothing is quite well, revealing, namely from africa and very southern europe, and into the middle east, that is part of the reason I picked northeast europe, so we can avoid indecent exposure. it often amazes me though that the clothing of the northern people of this period is so close to the aboriginal peoples of colder climates in recent history. if you are putting together a kit just remember that the only cloth in existence would have been rough linen, and that hides, which can be expensive, make up a great part of the winter dress.

[Magnus]

I'd be interested in pictures...I don't know much about this era of human history either.

[caiusbeerquitius]

There are some Germans doing this period, they are usually on this forum:
[url:2u65r3zg]http://www.porta-praehistorica.de[/url]
However, the forum is in German.
A friend of mine does Hallstatt-Period, which is East-Celtic, 650 BC:
[url:2u65r3zg]http://www.noricum.de[/url] [/url]

[TFLAVIUSAMBIORIX]

halstatt is often as far back as most reenactors are willing to go. It is a shame, because most of human history is well before the halstatt period. I might one day try cro magnon era if I ever get the nerve up. right now I am still appreciating the power of some of the weapons of the neolithic period, namely the bow, it is actually quite accurate, and the one found with the iceman was near 6 ft. long, so the welsh didn't invent the longbow, they reinvented it. I also find it interesting that my flint axe is sharper than any modern ax.

[Antonius Lucretius]

The discovery of Oetzi the Iceman in the Alps was a breakthrough in prehistoric archaeology as it demonstrated that the "prehistoric" man of the copper age was already pretty much advanced, technologywise.
Not at all the primitive fur covered creature people imagined..
Not only did Oetzi had a very efficient longbow, he also had a copper axe ---he may have been involved in copper smelting himself-- and very well designed "alpine" clothing, including the oldest snowshoes ever discovered.
He was also a warrior and died fighting from an arrow wound in the back after apparently dispatching two of his enemies.
[url:q6wc0q1h]http://www.crystalinks.com/oetzi.html[/url]
Like the Welsh and the longbow, Hannibal was certainly not the first one to cross the Alps. Oetzi actualy lived there...

[Tarbicus]

The discovery of Oetzi the Iceman in the Alps was a breakthrough in prehistoric archaeology

I remember a documentary about him which had a surprising discovery about his tattoos. Someone saw them and after a while realised they corresponded exactly with known acupunture points (and I mean pinpoint accuracy - no pun intended). It's thought he had a 'prescription' tattooed onto his body so he could get specific treatments wherever he went. I vaguely recall some of the points on his tattoos may have been applicable to old injuries or ailments he had.

Cheers.

[Matthew Amt]

Iceman, baby!! Can't really say I do this era seriously, yet, but I've made a few pieces of his stuff:

http://www.larp.com/hoplite/iceman.html

Tomorrow I'll be cutting a couple limbs off a yew tree in hopes of doing the axe handle. Not sure any will be suitable for a bow, but I'll certainly look. Mostly my mind is on the Bronze Age, these days (not that I have much time to work on any of that).

Matthew/Quintus/Oetzi...

[hoplite14gr]

If any body has the patience, he can follow my post "Neolithic Greek" on the www.fanaticus.org .

http://www.fanaticus.org/DBA/armies/var ... greek.html

Though the article is mostly a guide for wargamers playing DBA it can give ideas to renactors because I give suggestions for the peoples apperence base on legend and archeological evidence.
Pleass note professor Theoharis discovery of clay covered slingstones.
I hope I have helped
Kind regards
Stefanos