MATERIALS

It might have started with the rocks, heaped or strewn along an ancient river bed  ….  or perhaps it began with a broken tree branch tangled in a patch of dead grass. ….  it could even have been the dried skin and bones of an animal carcass, that suddenly offered possibilities.  Millions of years ago, long before any recorded history, someone noticed something laying on the ground and the idea that people could make use of natural materials sprang to life.   And what an idea it was, because any object that could be held in your hands, lifted and carried and utilized in some way that might make survival a little easier, became valuable.  We could build enclosures to provide protection from the weather and from the predators prowling nearby;  we could make traps for hunting and storage containers to preserve our gathered food;  we could construct ovens for cooking and hearths to keep us warm in winter.   Hand in hand with Nature, we created the tools to work with these materials and their value grew even greater.  The doors to Earth’s abundance swung open.

     Soon, the intrinsic nature of these primitive materials became better understood and with experience we got a “feel” for their strengths and weaknesses, over time, and in various combinations.  Rocks were hard and dense, impervious to the weather, and capable of holding a lot of heat.  Cemented together with sand and clay scraped from the ground and mixed with water, rock walls capable of lasting for centuries began to rise.  Solid wood was tough and resilient and could be shaped into a thousand forms to withstand the forces of  wind and gravity, just like the trees themselves.  Structures grew as methods were developed for connecting more and more pieces together.  Animal skins and woven fibers provided strong lashings as well as waterproof coverings.  Moss soaked in mud and coated with tar or pitch was used to fill the gaps, stabilizing and insulating our new enclosures.  This was Material Science in its infancy.