Fire - The Iceman - Reality

In 1991 a mummy was discovered, the oldest known mummy ever, he is estimated to be 5,300 years old. He was discovered in the Otztal Alps and named Otzi.

What does the Iceman have to do with fire? What does the Iceman have to do with reality? I am so glad you asked. You see the Iceman was wearing stuff, stuff scientist were able to analyze, stuff that gives us an insight to how he lived, who he was, etc, and the Iceman wore a belt.

Every one of the reality shows, the experts are building fires by rubbing two sticks together, and that is so unrealistic it's funny.

Let's back track, the Iceman wore a belt, and not just any belt.

Otzi's belt was made of calf leather, it was approximately 2 yards long, 2 1/4 inches high in the center and tapered to a 1/4 inch at the ends. That made it long enough to wrap around his body twice, with enough left over to tie it. This is a lot of belt to just hold up a loin cloth, his leggings were tied to the belt at the sides, a flint dagger and a 5 inch piece of antler that was obviously a flint knapping tool also hung from his belt. So, this belt served a much greater purpose than just holding up his pants.

A belt this long could be used to assist you in climbing, and old time rock climbers out there will remember the swami belt.

A belt this long could be used to support a heavy load, Otzi was found with a backpack, he could have used the belt to support the backpack the same way we do today with modern backpacks.

However, we still have not gotten around to the important part, fire, and reality. No more history lesson, back to the belt, in the back of the belt was a pouch, this pouch was the same size as the belt and approximately 8 inches wide. Inside this pouch was his personal survival kit. I have said it 100 times and I will say it 100 times more, a survival kit is no good if you don't have it on you, even the cavemen knew this. This survival kit consisted of 5 items.

The belt pouch contained 3 flint tools, 1 bone awl and a lump of Fomes fomentarius or, true tinder fungus.

The 3 flint tools are made from similar, if not identical flint.

1. The scraper: 2.63" long, .5" wide, .31" thick. It has a thick triangular cross-section and has been worked on all edges. There are traces of "sickle gloss" which indicated it was used in cutting grasses or grain stalks. It would be a good tool for cutting, planing and scraping.

2. The drill: Length 1.94", width .5" tapering to .25", thickness .27".  It has a square cross section that is much broader and thicker at one end tapering to a fine point. This makes it ideal for hand drilling or it could have been hafted to a shaft.

3. Small flake: Length .85", width .5", thickness .1". This small fragment would have been difficult to hold but its thin edge would allow for fine carving, notching.

The bone awl is probably made from the long leg bone of a goat, sheep or ibex. It's length 2.75", width .22".  In following the natural shape of leg bones, it has a curved cross section at the center with one end finely worked to a point, the other being slightly rounded. The point was sharp enough for making holes to repair his clothing.

The true tinder fungus consists of approximately four pieces which when put together, are about 2" square. This fungus can be found on dead and dying birch and beech trees and is parasitical. Fomes fomentarius is an important part of a Neolithic fire making kit.  The inner layers must be cut out and then pounded or ground to enhance its spark-catching qualities. This prepared fungus together with flint and iron pyrite will catch a spark that can be blown into an ember and was a primary fire starting technique used in the Neolithic. Even into modern times, Fomes is still used medicinally and to make a suede-like felt, used as a craft material.  Microscopic analysis of the tinder fungus in the pouch showed traces of iron pyrite particles in its fibrous structure, although no pyrite was discovered near the Iceman or his equipment. Perhaps his care and experience carrying live coals lessened his apparent need for making sure he had pyrite in his pouch.

Yes, the Iceman carried live coals, just like the mountain men of the fur trade era, just like our native Americans, we have not rubbed two sticks together to make fire in a very long time, apparently for over 5000 years.

So, for the record, even the caveman did not rub two sticks together, and that is what this has to do with fire and reality. I love learning primitive skills, and I know how to build a fire rubbing two sticks together, but it is an art form, the reality shows don't even bother to teach you how to prepare the bottom board correctly.

Don't make me a hater, I love the survival shows on the Discovery Channel, Man, Women Wild, Duel Survival, Man Vs. Wild I just wish they had just a tad bit more reality.

In my Tips and Tricks section (the link is on the left side of the page) I have included my modern version of a fire starting kit that should always be in your survival kit, and if you are following my rules I have one survival kit that stays in my pockets at all times and in my pocket is a disposable lighter.

So don't forget to Be Prepared and bring fire with you, either in the form of flint and steel, a lighter, or even some tinder.