Birch bark
Birch barkorbirchbarkis thebarkof several Eurasian and North Americanbirchtrees of the genusBetula.
The strong and water-resistant cardboard-like bark can be easily cut, bent, and sewn, which has made it a valuable building, crafting, andwriting material,sincepre-historictimes. Today, birch bark remains a popular type of wood for varioushandicraftsand arts.
Birch bark also contains substances of medicinal and chemical interest. Some of those products (such asbetulin) also havefungicidalproperties that help preserve bark artifacts, as well as food preserved in bark containers.
Collection and storage
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Removing birch bark from live trees is harmful to tree health and should be avoided. Instead, it can be removed fairly easily from the trunk or branches of dead wood, by cutting a slit lengthwise through the bark and pulling or prying it away from the wood. The best time for collection is spring or early summer, as the bark is of better quality and most easily removed.
Removing the outer (light) layer of bark from the trunk of a living tree may not kill it, but probably weakens it and makes it more prone toinfections.Removal of the inner (dark) layer, thephloem,kills the tree by preventing the flow ofsapto theroots.
To prevent it from rolling up during storage, the bark should be spread open and kept pressed flat.
Working
[edit]Birch bark can be cut with a sharpknife,and worked like cardboard. For sharp bending, the fold should be scored (scratched) first with a bluntstylus.
Fresh bark can be worked as is; bark that has dried up (before or after collection) should be softened by steaming, by soaking in warm water, or over a fire.
Uses
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Birch bark was a valuable construction material in any part of the world where birch trees were available. Containers such as wrappings, bags,baskets,boxes,orquiverswere made by most societies well beforepotterywas invented[citation needed].Other uses include:
- In variousAsiancountries (including Siberia) birch bark was used to make storage boxes, paper, tinder, canoes, roof coverings, tents, and waterproof covering forcomposite bows,such as theMongol bow,the Chinese bow,Korean bow,Turkish bows,Assyrian bow, thePerso-Parthian bow.It is still being used. More than one variety of birch is used.
- InNorth America,thenative populationused birch bark forcanoes,[1]wigwams,scrolls,ritual art (birch bark biting),maps(including the oldest maps of North America[2]),torches,[3]fans,musical instruments,clothing,and more.
- In Scandinavia and Finland, it was used as the substratum ofsod roofsandbirch-bark roofs,for making boxes, casks and buckets, fishing implements, and shoes (as used by theEgtved Girl) similar tobast shoes.
- In Russia, manybirch bark manuscriptshave survived from theMiddle Ages.
- Birch bark knife handles are popular tools to be made currently.
- In India, birch-bark, along withdried palm leaves,were the primary writing supports before the widespread advent of paper in the second millennium CE.[4]The oldest known Buddhist manuscripts (some of theGandharan Buddhist Texts), fromAfghanistan,were written on birch bark.[5]
- Neanderthals used birch bark to make ataradhesive through the process of dry or destructive distillation.[6][7]
Birch bark also makes an outstandingtinder,as the inner layers will stay dry even through heavy rainstorms.
Medical uses
[edit]
Filsuvez is atopical medicationwith birch bark extract as itsactive ingredient.[8]It is used to treat two types ofepidermolysis bullosa,dystrophic and junctional, targeting partial-thickness skin wounds. Common side effects include wound complications, skin reactions, infections, itching, and allergic reactions.[8]Filsuvez was approved in the European Union in June 2022[8][9]and in the United States in December 2023.[10][11]It is considered afirst-in-class medicationby the US Food and Drug Administration.[12]
See also
[edit]- Mazinibaganjigan– Indigenous Great Lakes art form
- Wiigwaasabak– Birch bark scrolls for ceremonial use by the Ojibwa (Anishinaabe) people of North America
- Wiigwaasi-makak– Box made from birch bark
- Magewappa– Japanese wood craft
- Lapti– Traditional bast fiber footwear of Europe
References
[edit]- ^Vennum T, Weber C, Nyholm E (1999).Earl's Canoe: A Traditional Ojibwe Craft.Smithsonian Center for Folklife Programs and Cultural Studies. Archived fromthe originalon 4 January 2013.Retrieved3 December2012.
- ^Hayes D (2002).Historical Atlas of Canada: Canada's History Illustrated with Original Maps.Vancouver: Douglas & McIntyre Ltd. p. 152.
- ^Boszhardt RF (2003).Deep Cave Rock Art in the Upper Mississippi Valley.St. Paul: Prairie Smoke Press. pp. 54–55.ISBN0-9704482-3-6.
- ^Losty JP (1982).The art of the book in India.British Library. Reference Division. London: British Library.ISBN0904654788.OCLC8653520.
- ^Salomon R, Barnard M, Allchin FR (1999).Ancient Buddhist scrolls from Gandhāra: the British Library Kharoṣṭhī fragments.London: The British Library.ISBN0712346112.OCLC263439456.
- ^Kozowyk PR, Soressi M, Pomstra D, Langejans GH (August 2017)."Experimental methods for the Palaeolithic dry distillation of birch bark: implications for the origin and development of Neandertal adhesive technology".Scientific Reports.7(1): 8033.Bibcode:2017NatSR...7.8033K.doi:10.1038/s41598-017-08106-7.PMC5579016.PMID28860591.
- ^Schmidt P, Blessing M, Rageot M, Iovita R, Pfleging J, Nickel KG, et al. (September 2019)."Birch tar production does not prove Neanderthal behavioral complexity".Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.116(36): 17707–17711.Bibcode:2019PNAS..11617707S.doi:10.1073/pnas.1911137116.PMC6731756.PMID31427508.
- ^abc"Filsuvez EPAR".European Medicines Agency(EMA).13 April 2022.Archivedfrom the original on 6 July 2022.Retrieved6 July2022.Text was copied from this source which is copyright European Medicines Agency. Reproduction is authorized provided the source is acknowledged.
- ^"Filsuvez Product information".Union Register of medicinal products.Archivedfrom the original on 4 March 2023.Retrieved3 March2023.
- ^"Chiesi Global Rare Diseases Receives FDA Approval for Filsuvez (birch triterpenes) topical gel for the Treatment of Epidermolysis Bullosa".Chiesi Global Rare Diseases(Press release). 19 December 2023.Archivedfrom the original on 22 December 2023.Retrieved22 December2023.
- ^"Novel Drug Approvals for 2023".U.S.Food and Drug Administration(FDA).19 December 2023.Archivedfrom the original on 21 January 2023.Retrieved22 December2023.
- ^New Drug Therapy Approvals 2023(PDF).U.S.Food and Drug Administration(FDA)(Report). January 2024.Archivedfrom the original on 10 January 2024.Retrieved9 January2024.
Further reading
[edit]
- McPhee J (1975).The Survival of the Bark Canoe.New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
- Adney ET, Chapelle H (2014).Bark Canoes and Skin Boats of North America.Skyhorse Publishing, Inc.
- Jennings J (2004).Bark Canoes: The Art and Obsession of Tappan Adney.Firefly Books Ltd.
- Behne CT, ed. (2010).The Travel Journals of Tappan Adney, 1887-1890.Estate of Tappan Adney.
- Goode FW (2012).Ojibwe Birch Bark Canoes: Anishinaabe Wigwassi-Jiimaan.Beaver Bark Canoes.
External links
[edit]
- Birchbark articlesfrom theNativeTechsite.
- Birch and Birch Bark,an article byJohn Zasadaat aUniversity of Minnesotasite.
- Birch Bark Canoepage on the site of theAlgonquinsofPikwàganagàn.
- César's Bark Canoe—Watch a documentary on how to build a Birch bark canoe
- Bureau of Catholic Indian Missions Digital Image Collectionat Marquette University; keyword: birch bark.
- Wiigwaasi-Jiimaan: These Canoes Carry Culture—Short documentary featuring the building of an Anishinaabe-Ojibwe birchbark canoe in Wisconsin.
- "Birch, Betula pendula, ext".Drug Information Portal.U.S. National Library of Medicine.
- "Birch, Betula pubescens, ext".Drug Information Portal.U.S. National Library of Medicine.
