Making a Stone-age Style Wooden Comb

[@GrainneDhub-ll6vw]

How interesting! Considering how pleasurable it can be to run a comb through one's hair or to have a comb run through one's hair, I can imagine that more than one bright and hopeful young person made a courting gift, hoping to find favour in the heart of a certain someone.

[@pilgrimbruce6475]

I think its important to emphasize that a comb is actually an important hygiene tool. Regularly combing your hair removes nasty critters like ticks and lice. It also removes dirt and detritus like leaves, grass, and twigs. Anyone who has gone camping for a number of days knows this can be a problem. This was very important before shampoo was invented.

[@SorbusAucubaria]

In fact shampoo really isn't nessesary mostly, it only dries your skin, makes your hair brittle and makes skin produce more oils. Mostly using only water to clean yourself is all you need and then of course combing your hair daily. And then keeping your hair in tidy braid helps to keep it clean. But if you are used to using shampoo, then it is a long road to get to a place where your skin stops overproducing oils and your hair wont be greasy.

[@gardeninginthedesert]

​@@SorbusAucubariaI keep wanting to try this but I live in the tropics where it's very sweaty and dusty and just going one week without washing my hair drives me crazy.

[@michellebyrom6551]

​@@SorbusAucubariathat's the reason linen caps were commonplace in later times. Linen kept off the dust and debris. Using scarves or caps with ties also helps to keep hair out of the way. Trying to cook over a fire with loose hair is a hazard. Washing clothes, spinning, weaving, grinding flour &c are all easier with long hair tied out of the way.

[@Apostate_ofmind]

I can attest it's power! I have always had a thing about washing my hair, so i started to comb it every day: - i comb it with first a slightly narrow-toothed comb, standard one really, and that one already pulls out a lot of lint (grey! actual proper dust!) - then i comb it with one of those combs that is actually made to remove lice (very narrow-toothed). The teeth are as bendy as a wet noodle unfortunately, but only because i got a cheap one. How much dirt it removes! I dont even go out or sweat that much (although it is summer here). And yet every day, i can see the grime (dark gray gunk) that this thing removes! how glad i am its not on my hair anymore! I do this every day, for a while until nothing comes out of my hair, and let me tell you, its amazing. I only shampoo whenever i want to change the smell of my hair, maybe some flowery scents, but i dont need to. My hair is softer than its ever been.

[@SorbusAucubaria]

@@michellebyrom6551 Yes, caps keep hair clean too and all your other points about loose hair being a bit of a hazard as well.

[@Afatsarcasticstartrekfan]

Thank you for these videos, once again proving that ancient doesn't mean stupid.

[@ragnkja]

And that “primitive” means “very early” rather than “crude”.

[@Afatsarcasticstartrekfan]

@@ragnkja Yes exactly I like that way of putting it also.

[@magesalmanac6424]

That’s why I so love these recreation channels. Disassembling the old “dumb caveman” myth one video at a time.

[@ingeleonora-denouden6222]

@@ragnkja Yes, 'primitive' is related to 'prime'... Primitive people were the first / earliest people. Most of the ordinary things we know now were invented by those people!

[@MsAnpassad]

When you bend the wood, twist it where you want the bend to be, that prevents some splintering.

[@Rouverius]

Oh, that looks both functional and lovely. I wonder if it might even make a nice decorative comb to keep the hair up.

[@soniatriana9091]

@Rouverius What a great idea! I’m sure the possibilities are endless!!

[@rottenmeat5934]

Could the splitting be ameliorated by twisting the wood rather than bending it? I've seen green shoots broken up and used for lashing, and I wonder if you could pulverize the centers of the sticks enough so you could very lightly twist the wood. That should give it more stretchiness to endure the bend. Depends on how stringy thd wood is, though. If it snaps easily in two in your hands, it's probably not going to work.

[@bensabelhaus7288]

:high-five: Crazy hair club! Same as my mother and grandmother. Though Grandmas red hair was blondish brown in Mom, brown in me then back to moms hair in my son :) Took 4 decades and Covid restrictions on haircuts to finally say screw it and let it grow. Trying to figure it out now lol Love how you showed your learning progress. I have made a few woven shades out of palm for my bearded dragon and every one is a little better / slightly altered technique. Made my first piece of cordage out of swamp grass a couple weeks ago. Very basic, horrible weave pattern, but I made cordage and wove it into a crappy bracelet. Couldn't be prouder of myself lol

[@DreamerBooksAnIceAgeSaga]

I didn't know there was a Crazy Hair Club...may I join, too? (Please?) 🙂

[@antonemberbroque4452]

I wonder if one could use these combs for wool or other fiber work.

[@cherylburkitt9722]

Awww..these combs are awesome and so cute❤😊 💓 and work so good.. well done!

[@SurvivalistStuffWatcherr]

3:33 That flint knife is very impressive!

[@nadineanderson7877]

That was such a great little film full of tips.I am going to try it with some willow and crocosmia cordage. I wondered if a little warm/hot water would help the sticks be more compliant on the bend? I will try bending the willow over a whole rod or my basketmakers bodkin, so the bend has something to tension the wood against.Thanks so much Sally they are a beautiful functional object❤

[@debbiej.2168]

Your videos are always interesting. I'm a little surprised that little comb seemed to work so well.

[@resourcedragon]

Really curly hair responds better to that sort of comb. Fine combs are better for straighter hair.

[@dierampe]

0:41 Hi Sally I live only 2 hours away from the Netherlands (in Germany). The plant you are showing is also very common here on every roadside. In my opinion this is not Viburnum costaricanum (which grows in Costa Rica) but a dogwood plant, probably Cornus sanguinea.

[@SallyPointer]

Thanks for that option, I'll cross reference against some with the berries starting. Dogwood works just as well for this sort of thing

[@monika_do_dziela]

Hi, in Poland we have also Cornus sanguinea (dereń świdwa) 👋🏻

[@dierampe]

@@monika_do_dziela And beautiful women, too

[@soniatriana9091]

Hello Sally! Wow! You truly made my morning! I was soooo intrigued by your comb project!! It was phenomenal to watch & to see all the steps that resulted in your very beautiful & amazing comb!! How many people can say they know how to make a useful comb from the branches of a shrub!! You are a very determined & passionate woman!! Congratulations on being so unique & talented! You’re very impressive & inspiring! It’s so wonderful to see how people from long along were so ingenious in their skills!!

[@wendymoyer782]

I love your videos! They are so educational, and practical, and interesting!

[@BryanKoenig379]

I love your videos this is an awesome thing to experiment with it's amazing the way we would make things out of simple materials. Thanks for sharing your ideas they are awesome

[@penniecormier8770]

I never thought about making a comb that way! 💕 That’s new, I love it!

[@amandajstar]

I love everything about this -- not least the 'necklace' along the neckline of Sally's top. Groovy. They'll never have that at M&S!

[@royworks7986]

It always amazes me how well primitive tools works so well. Great job!

[@MMacNicol]

Wonderful! Those viking bone combs have intimidated me, for making one, but this video really makes creating a wood one look possible for me! Thank you so much.

[@stoker1931jane]

👋🏻Welcome to The Netherlands 🇳🇱, I hope you have a lovely stay "back in time" on our man-made-lands (1939-1942), near Lelystad✌🏻😊.

[@nickbringolf1181]

Sally, you are so awesome!

[@alaskabarb8089]

Great project, Sally! I’d like to try that, despite the near-certainty of a couple splinters, first-degree burns, and a bit of blood on the wooden stump before completion😎.🔪🌿🔥✍🏻🩸

[@magesalmanac6424]

Oh how clever! Thank you for another marvelous video ☺️

[@jill-ti7oe]

"Crazy-Hair Sally", sounds like a character from the wild west. 🙂

[@Reziac]

Huh. Interesting. I wonder when combs switched from being bound together, to being carved as a single piece? and which is really more durable?

[@eileenfb1948]

Love it! ❤

[@lachouette_et_le_phoque]

Beautiful result! I wonder if the surface would snag on the hair at all, because of small splinters or roughness of the wood surface, and if there's a way to prevent that.

[@SallyPointer]

That's why it's made from split and shaped wood, not round wood

[@Terazashim]

I was looking at those and wondering if burnishing the sticks with either a smooth rock or another stick would help get rid of those. Though I don't know that I've ever tried burnishing green wood, it may not work until after it's dried.

[@jillyb9995]

Fascinating. Come the day when plastic is banned we'll all need a laburnum comb!

[@gingivitis9148]

While I long for the day when we even have proper restrictions on plastic, natural material combs don't work that well for modern hair styles coz they redistribute hair oil very effectively. Which is to say I shall be thinking about the best materials for modern combs when I fall asleep for a while, lol

[@williamchamberlain2263]

​@@gingivitis9148 antler or cattle horn. Antler cut into a sheet with a bandsaw, and the teeth cut with a fine saw. Horn can be bent flat slowly under hot water, and the teeth cut with a saw.

[@lesdrinkwater490]

Brilliant work. Well done Sally.

[@damogranheart5521]

I like that!😊

[@seansullivan8083]

Fantastic! I will definitely have to add a wood comb to my list of projects. Thank you for taking the time to share your process.

[@kimberlydrennon4982]

Now I'm curious about how long combs like this were used. This is something I bet it's hard to find examples of because if it is for poor people nobody in history would be documenting it and once it had broken too much to use it's good kindling

[@calladricosplays]

It reminds me of pick combs, perfect for her curly hair

[@michellebyrom6551]

Not just poor people. Textiles and lightweight wooden items like this don't survive easily, as they soon rot and get turned into compost. We find lots of lovely stone spindle weights but not the original spindles for this reason.

[@rachelboersma-plug9482]

​@@calladricosplaysThat was my thought, reminds me a lot of the Afro pick my mum used when she got her hair permed in the 80s.

[@rosettaelemental7275]

Do you think this would work with blackberry stems if I cut the thorns off? I think it would work, but I have no idea if the growth pattern created by the thorns would affect how it bends

[@CricketsBay]

I think it would work. Give it a try.

[@SallyPointer]

Easy one to try! Let me know how it goes

[@ashleyanderson2859]

Very interesting, thanks for sharing!

[@azzikko2688]

That's so amazing!

[@penihavir1777]

As always, an interesting video. I always learn something from you.

[@alexsaewen813]

Would this also work with hazel? I have a great stand of hazel literally next door, but no clue where to find virburnum.

[@CricketsBay]

Try it and see. I bet it will work with Hazel branches.

[@gingivitis9148]

I assume I'd work for most woods used for basket weaving? I think i might try it with grape vine

[@kirstyburgum2878]

Thank you for another great video!

[@Lucious410]

Cool video. Thanks for sharing.

[@priscaklatten5278]

glorious weather ☀ lucky you 😃

[@kathleenebsen2659]

You are always a joy!

[@anitapeura3517]

Always informative and interesting, thanks Sally! What stone are your red wrist beads made from, please? May have been a video I missed...

[@SallyPointer]

Just some amber beads

[@WoWBloodrend]

Awesome video Sally 😊 thanks for sharing the knowledge ❤

[@emmahardesty4330]

Wonderful video. How about bending soaked reeds over hot stones--much the way a woodworker bends wood. Seems that would prevent splitting at the curve. Eager to make one myself.

[@SallyPointer]

Good plan

[@Liam_Nielsen]

Are there any other types of wood you think would work well? Thank you for the excellent videos.

[@SallyPointer]

Anything that bends well, on further reflection we think this was dogwood not viburnum, equally good though

[@MisterJusticeBison]

I wonder if you could notch the wood a bit around the cord to get the teeth closer together?

[@SallyPointer]

That's a good idea, I'll try that next time

[@mozartpaiva1]

Love it! Thankx

[@jsa-z1722]

Would you consider using willow Sally? For its flexibility?

[@SallyPointer]

I think that would work absolutely fine

[@witchways]

Great video!

[@kaygee301]

Great, thanks as always

[@TheFlyingGerbil]

I’ve heard of soaking to help bend wood, but how does heating it work which seems like it would be the opposite effect?

[@SallyPointer]

The localised steam as the wood heats makes it bendy

[@TheFlyingGerbil]

@@SallyPointer thank you :)

[@ingeleonora-denouden6222]

I think Viburnum opulus is more common here in the Netherlands than that Costarican viburnum. But I understand it doesn't need to be Viburnum.

[@SallyPointer]

Yes, I definitely got the species wrong. We had another look and found viburnum and dogwood locally, and both worked well

[@Gabriel-e5g3e]

Sally, I just discovered you through this video, and I’m curious about the atlatl (there is probably other names for it, but it’s pretty much a handheld device for throwing arrows) It was used most famously by the Aztecs, but also my many North American indigenous peoples, and was likely used as an effective hunting method. I believe it’s existed long enough for it to fit here.

[@SallyPointer]

I have several! Great fun to use and incredibly effective

[@Gabriel-e5g3e]

@@SallyPointer I’d personally love to make one. I’m really interested in military history, so I think it would be a good project to practice wood carving with.

[@starrleesimmons4291]

❤👍👍❤

[@markedis5902]

Nice one

[@justinrisley8604]

Would willow be a decent alternative to vibernum?

[@SallyPointer]

Absolutely. This may even be dogwood rather than viburnum, they all work well

[@northumberlandacres]

Why dry the strips out and then rehydrate them?

[@SallyPointer]

So all the shrinking is done, just like in basketry

[@Deipnosophist_the_Gastronomer]

👍

[@Alomtancos]

HOW do you find a Stone Age event, Sally? (I'm Hungarian, but would have travelled to the Netherlands to see such a thing if I'd have known about it. How does one search for these?)

[@ingeleonora-denouden6222]

I found this event through Sally. Although I live in the Netherlands I didn't know about Swifterkamp. Last year Sally shared something about it on her instagram and then I searched the internet and found more, so I was able to join it this year and meet Sally and many other wonderful 'stone age people'!

[@LittlePetieWheat]

Cornus walteri?

[@SallyPointer]

Might be, we took a stab at identification without reference material, I'm very willing to believe we got it wrong! Either way it works well for combs

[@albinblaschka7821]

Cornus for sure and not Viburnum, species ID I can't say

[@Anthony-cf3rm]

0:43 Maybe it's Cornus sanguinea ?

[@SallyPointer]

I think you are right, about two minutes after we made and uploaded the video we decided there was lots of dogwood as well as some viburnum around. It's all good choices for combs though!

[@phillydragonfly]

Those combs remind me more of a hair pick. I have super coarse curly hair that a regular comb would never get through, but your picks would actually work for me! And it makes sense that they were configured with wider teeth like that. A recent DNA discovery showed that light skin in Europeans evolved much much much more recently than anyone thought, possibly as recently as 8,000 years ago. All those beautiful full-fingered Venus figures? They were depicting women with more African features. Their hair wasn’t covered in netting, as many people thought. They were styled in box braids and twists. Your hair pick would have been perfect for our early sisters. Well done!

[@jasminv8653]

It's always lovely to learn more and mythbust history! So don't take me as arguing with the fact side of things - with neolithic populations in europe being mostly darker than people imagine nowadays. However it also probably isn't correct to jump from 'a recent discovery' to 'all' the statues having 'african' features. There are palaeolithic population studies of a variety of darker and lighter genes both in indoeuropean and siberian populations, and it's hard to say what exactly the 'look' of many people would've been in any region that's currently 'european' or 'northwestern asian'. And there are many african people with straighter hair textures even today in, say, somalia and ethiopia, not to mention dark skin people in south asia. Is it very possible and even very likely that more people in europe had very curly hair textures in the neolithic period? Yes, possibly! Is it a proven absolute through this comb? Maybe, maybe not. I think this simply seems like a somewhat easier shape of comb to make than a carved 'modern european' comb. The shape being similar to a modern afro-texture hair pick is probably just happenstance? A very interesting notion all the same! Makes me wonder more what sorts of haircare tools can be found in neolithic and later findings of present day African regions 🤔 how have the peoples who continue to have very curly hair textures taken care of them historically? I don't know. So thanks for giving me something to look into!

[@BonnibelLecter]

Neat!

[@lisascenic]

“lady with bag on her head” 😂

[@beggsnachin]

I'm just over here looking at that cap and thinking how i can make it. My hair has been badly damaged with hard water before we got a well. I tried everything and i had hair down to my butt. At 50, it was the last female thing I had left. I've gradually cut it all off over the course of five years. Now that we have a week and hour water again, I'm growing it again, but I don't think it will ever be nice again. I was ok with get hair and planned on being the glorious laong white haired old lady. Sigh... Nope. It's a short bob that doesn't hang right and still snagged no matter what I use,. Not attractive at all. So I wear a lot of hats. In spring and summer, it gets too hot. I've been experimenting making fine cordage and weaving baskets, then a watch band.... With an eye toward making summer clothing like linen with plants that are invasive here in my property. I don't have much nettle and I still don't have enough flax. My experiments with cattail have looked promising, but it breaks when it's dry. I had to see a line inside my cattail watchband. I just want clothes I don't have to buy at Walmart. Lol

[@SallyPointer]

My cap is looked at in more detail in my Simple Looping video, very easy to make.