Paper Short Abstract:

The case study of alder wood used for cladding purposes highlighted the relevance of intuitive knowledge of materials, which typically emerges in craft practices. The results indicate that this knowledge can be conveyed through words and thus serve as a source of information in materials science.

Paper Abstract:

The craft of cladding façades with wood was explored through the case study of alder. Source pluralism was employed to understand the use of this wood species, with its controversial durability, as a weather-exposed and protective layer. The literature review revealed that, in the 18th century, alder wood was believed to have the capacity to absorb minerals, which created a hard, stone-like skin on the wood's surface after immersion in water, thus protecting the timber from rotting (Fleischer, 1779). The results from recent interviews and discussions with archaeologists and craftspeople across Europe include descriptions such as: “blades used for cutting samples from excavated alder get worn out because the wood seems incrusted with minerals” and “weathering forms a kind of hard rind on alder cladding, protecting it from rotting.” These descriptions rely on sensory experience and intuitive knowledge and can appear inaccurate. However, the similarities in the oral and written reports from various places and different centuries suggest that alder wood undergoes transformation when exposed to minerals and/or water in a process comparable to petrification. Experiments will help to characterise this transformation process and make it predictable and reproducible, ensuring alder cladding durability. At a more general level, this case study highlights how knowledge of materials based on intuitive ontic validities emerges individually through craft practice but might also be conveyed through words and, therefore, can be a valuable source of information for materials science.

Fleischer, E. (1779). Forsøg til en underviisning i det danske og norske skov-vaesen.