Nettle cordage:
Maura Brennan
Discover the natural resources growing near your own doorstep! Learn about sustainable plant fibres as we learn how to process nettles to make cordage.
The Nettle was valued by our ancestors as a food source high in nutrition and as a medicinal plant. But did you know that our Bronze age ancestors used nettle to create fibres to make a fabric?
Suited to children from 3rd to 6th class with help from an adult.
Materials: Gloves to handle nettles, nettles (picked in August/September), a log for bashing
For more information:
irisharchaeology.ie/2011/05/mystery-artefact-sheds-new-light-on-irish-bronze-age-weaving/;
ww.heritageinschools.ie/teachers-resources/detail/all-about-nettles
Maura Brennan is a member of the Heritage in Schools Panel of Specialists.