A different approach to exploration
Always readily available, cheap and with excellent technical characteristics bone, horn, and antler historically have been used in production of an almost endless variety of objects. With the invention of plastics, these natural materials rapidly fell out of use so much so that for a modern man they are strange and unknown.
We, the [really] small team of
The Black Market of the White Bones, are studying all the aspects of how bone, horn, and antler were used and worked in the medieval and early modern era. And we accomplish it not so much at the writing desk as in our workshop. Such an approach to exploration of these unknown materials nowadays is surprisingly uncommon Read more... The result of this work is not only unique first hand experience and knowledge , but also replicas of most incredible array of medieval and early modern era objects (see section
''Gallery''
)
.
We mostly concentrate our efforts on the time period from the 14th to the 16th century and generally fit our interests in the geographic borders of the Baltic sea region. Nevertheless, the times between the 9th to 13th centuries are also not strange to us and we have even made a replica of a Roman comb once, a replicas of Pictish combs... and some 19th-century trinkets some other time.
Following the use of these materials, one can also catch a glimpse of many
aspects of medieval everyday life itself and the material culture that it
involved. We hope that this place, the Black Market, will induce
curiosity in you (or light the flame of the existing one yet brighter) to
explore, research, and inquire.