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4. Knowledge Transfer: The Craftmen’s Abstraction
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61 CHAPTER FOUR Knowledge Transfer The Craftmen’s Abstraction Harald Bentz Høgseth The tacit knowledge of craftsmen is communicated not only by example but also through language. Carpenters in the past developed specialized terms for timber qualities, features of tools, and specific designs. It is possible to gain an understanding of the language of craftsmen by combining the study of archaeological timber remains with that of the living tradition of craftsmen today. The carpenter’s perception and expression are closely connected to the performance of practice, a knowledge that has existed outside of books and formal education. The transmission of know-how through the generations can be traced by studying tool marks and the selection of timber qualities in wooden buildings in Norway. An ongoing cooperation of the last fourteen years between several craftsmen working with traditional methods, tools, and materials in wood constructions and myself, a carpenter and archaeologist, has resulted in a research project with a focus on the perception of tacit knowledge and knowledge through action and how this has been transmitted from one generation of craftsmen to the next. Different projects have been based on the comparison of archaeological wooden building remains and living craft traditions among carpenters in Norway. A common misunderstanding among noncraftsmen, based on a lack of information and knowledge about the craft process, is that craft production is manual labor, without a high level of abstraction. Before starting a project, the craftsman has to decide what the end product is going to look 62 Archaeology and Apprenticeship like and how the production process is going to develop. This is a process based on his insights and experience in a range of features, such as the properties and possibilities of materials and tools. It requires a long procedure based on a series of activities, many of which are not physical or manual but cognitive. The craftsman deals with a whole series of considerations and decisions that are part of a creative process (Høgseth 2007). In my previous work, I have discussed the relationship between “knowing how” and “knowing what” based on archaeological wooden building remains. The term knowing how refers to the craftsman’s movements through his body, his technical skill (see chapter 1 this volume). The term knowing what refers to reflections and knowledge describing such movements and techniques and is traditionally understood as a more intellectual process. The craftsman’s knowledge is a combination of both these forms. In practice, they function as closely interwoven integrated parts. Archaeological timbers unmask stories about the craftsman’s knowing how and knowing what. The selection of timbers for a specific purpose is based on cognitive skills. The experience, understanding, and knowledge range from the selection of the raw materials to the use of tools, the sense of form, and choice of techniques. The craftsman depends on his perception : “finger feeling,” visual estimates, hearing, and smell. He depends on this knowledge gained through practice and experience concerning the product’s purpose, the creation process, and the embodied knowledge of tools when he decides what types and qualities of timber the construction needs. When a craftsman uses tools to work timbers, he leaves traces in the surface consisting of particular patterns that characterize the individual tool, almost like a signature. This enables us to explore in the archaeological material the kinds of tools the ancient craftsman probably used and to transcribe the procedures and techniques behind them. Tool marks represent definitive parts of this knowledge and give some perspectives about the connections among the craftsman, materials, tools, and working processes—and the relationship between the sequences of tool marks and their dynamics, rhythm, and movement pattern. The craftsman’s rhythm is built on his know-how and know-what; his body movement and perception are essential for his praxis (Høgseth 2007). The craft tradition is an ongoing chain of knowledge transfer, perception , and expression, based on the abstractions that craftsmen make. My empirical data that this chapter is built on are derived from reconstruction and restoration projects in which two very experienced craftsmen, Jon Bojer Godal and Roald Renmælmo, have been involved. They have both studied and experimented with old carpentry traditions in Norway. This chapter focuses on the transmission of know-how along the generations by studying the selection of timber qualities and tool marks in [3.234.177.119] Project MUSE (2024-03-28 10:36 GMT) Knowledge Transfer: The Craftmen’s Abstraction 63 wooden buildings in Norway. The subject...