| Pine pitch glue has been a minimally studied artifact by archaeologists that has been used for thousands of years and still, very little is known about it. The concepts to be discussed in this thesis will be defining what pine pitch glue is and how it is made. Additionally, the many possible applications of pine pitch glue will be explored and compared to other glues and adhesives in prehistory. Several examples of pine pitch glue were created for experiments to test the potential strength for these glues in comparison to a base and two exemplars, in hide glue and modern wood glue. These experiments were designed with the aid of knowledge acquired through previous experiments exploring this topic for a senior research paper. This previous research will be discussed. These experiments required the development of a custom jig to accommodate the strength testing. A variety of samples determining strength provided data that would create a much-needed background on these glues and why they were or were not used in prehistory.
Key Words: Adhesive, Glue, Archaeology, Prehistoric, Pine Pitch |