>If I remember it right, the ancient method of making wire for jewelry was to cut a strip of metal and twist it into a wire, not to draw the wire through a die. There is jewelry made from wire going as far back as the Bronze Age.
Tim > > >---- Original Message ---- >From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Subject: Re: Wire strings >Date: Mon, 29 Nov 2004 15:39:55 +0100 > >>>>> The art >>>>> of wire-drawing does not appear to have been known until the >14th >>>>> century, >>>>> and it was not introduced into England before the second half of >the >>>>> 17th >> >>This may be true, but that doesn't say anything about Ireland, and >even >>if there is documentation about how and when it all happened in >>England, that doesn't mean that it didn't happen somewhere else, >>possibly using different techniques. Plus, if Ireland, or anywhere >else >>for that matter, was primarily an oral culture, and/or the operation > >>was considered sacred or secret or reserved for any reason (or >>unimportant or common knowledge), that could explain why no >>documentation has been found. Anyway, besides a certain >anglo-centric >>point of view, the key point in this passage, for me, is "does not >>appear", which is a much more concise way of saying what I've just >>said... >> >> >> >>To get on or off this list see list information at >>http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html >>
