Primitive skills

Bushmen from Botswana demonstrate how to create a friction fire using two sticks

Primitive skills refers to prehistoric handicrafts and pre-industrial technology. Primitive skills are those skills that relate to living off the land, often using handcrafted tools made from naturally gathered materials. Examples of primitive skills include: gathering and foraging native plants and animals for food, skinning and preparing game, basketry and pot making, constructing shelters, fire making, and useful plant identification.

Interest in primitive skills has coincided with a resurgence in interest in natural and self-sufficient living techniques. In North America, primitive skills enthusiasts often emulate Native-American traditional crafts. In Europe, primitive skills enthusiasts often practice traditional Bronze and Iron Age art forms.

See also

• Anarcho-primitivism
• Hand drill
• Fire piston
• Flintknapper
• List of plants with edible leaves
• Off-the-grid
• Shelter (building)
• Survivalism
• Self-sufficiency

External links

• Rabbitstick and Winter Count Primitive skills events held every year for over 25 years.
• Elements Gathering Primitive skills event that happens every summer in Los Angeles, CA
• Earthskills Rendezvous Non-profit organization that hosts several primitive skills events/gatherings.
• Pine Home: Primitive Skills, Outdoor Safety and Wilderness Survival Instructional site with pics,skills instructions, knife reviews, forum discussing primitive skills, outdoor events and gatherings.
• Midatlantic Primitive Skills Group Non-profit organization that hosts several primitive skills events/gatherings as well as classes in the lithic arts, trapping, tracking and more.