Banished Ventures

Artfactial

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  • in reply to: Birch bark #6093
    Artfactial
    Participant

    They are horrible dwellings indeed, that required near-constant maintenance to fight the erosion. I have found no evidence in birch bark being used in them though the mixed consistency, besides the peat/sod was varied. It was more a point that the lower end of sod houses would probably be even less consistent and nasty but leave little trace by their relatively temporary nature.

    And huh, I though I had seen a direct reference to birch bark being used. But basswood bark and aspen chips are specifically mentioned; around 1750 many experiments with woods and barks were being done to produce paper fiber.:)

    Edit: Birch bark as a writing material of itself was widely used though.

    in reply to: Birch bark #6090
    Artfactial
    Participant

    While I cannot speak for more northern uses of the sod roof, the structures were widely used in the north of the Netherlands(Frisia, Germanic but culturally more related to the Danes) in the extremely impoverished conditions of the large scale peat-diggers up into the ’30s. While they would use anything to keep their structures upright they were often made of nothing but peat or with only the side walls reinforced by planks or cobblestone. The roofs would be extremely leaky and the atmosphere clammy resulting in very short life expectancies.
    I’m sure it would generally be wise to add bark insulation, but not everyone would have the luxury of being able/allowed to use it.:) Many of these used the straw and dry hay from the top of the peat bogs as binding, so that might be another possible substitute for birch bark.
    Friesian Peat House
    1872 Painting of Sod houses during winter.

    That said; birch bark could also be a substitute inferior textile recourse for paper making.:)

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