Birch tar making with Stone Age methods – the condensation method

The video shows a procedure for birch tar making from Betula pendula bark, using the Condensation method. It can be used for demonstration and teaching purposes. The procedure is one of the simplest ways of making birch tar.

A more detailed description of the setup can be found in:

Schmidt, P., M. Blessing, M. Rageot, R. Iovita, J. Pfleging, K. G. Nickel, L. Righetti, and C. Tennie, 2019, Birch tar production does not prove Neanderthal behavioral complexity, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 116(36), 17707. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1911137116


The efficiency of the technique has been teste in:

Blessing, M., and P. Schmidt 2021, On the efficiency of Palaeolithic birch tar making, Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 38, 103096. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2021...


The mechanical properties of birch tar made with the condensation method were compared in:

Schmidt, P., M. A. Blessing, T. J. Koch, and K. G. Nickel, 2021, On the performance of birch tar made with different techniques, Heritage Science, 9(1), 140. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40494-021-00...