Occoquan Paleotechnics LLC

Name: Occoquan Paleotechnics LLC
Address: 3019 Bromley Court, Woodbridge, VA, 22192, US
Telephone: (703) 987-0415
Rating: 4.8

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United States
Woodbridge, VA
Occoquan Paleotechnics LLC

Occoquan Paleotechnics LLC Owner Michael Frank-Primitive Technology/Archaeological molding and casting/Functional replicas for teaching and experimentation.

Occpaleo serves the museum community, academic institutions, and all those who love history and primitive skills

10/15/2024

Prehistory alive and well at the Cromwell Valley Park Primitive Technology Weekend. I thought this would be coming to an end, but a new generation is taking over, and I was very impressed. Occpaleo will be doing everything thing it can to support the next event, which will be at Jefferson Patterson Park in Md next Spring.

08/27/2024

We recently lost my all time favorite author and wilderness skills instructor. Tom Brown Jr brought tens of thousands of students closer to the natural world, and taught this suburban child to make friction fires, arrowheads, and bows and arrows. When I was 18, and and old enough, I went to 5 schools over the years, and still working on the skills every day. Each student takes away something different, and for me it was looking much closely at the natural world. Rest in Peace Tom, and thanks for bringing out those gifts to so many.

05/04/2024

This Spring we have been continuing our exploration of prehistoric tools on the other side of the pond. The spotlight now is on the Neolithic period of Western Europe, where over 5,000 years ago cultures started to clear land and create elevated pile villages around lakes. Many of these sites are now underwater, and current archaeological research is finding some fascinating tools preserved there. Here are some of the tools we've replicated this year at Occpaleo, to give students something to actually hold and use, igniting that spark into flame in a way a display case can never do. www.occpaleo.com

02/23/2024

We spent some time highlighting Neanderthal Culture this month, by showing with replication and experiments how they were so much smarter than we used to think. I once took part in a History Channel shoot, where the director was constantly trying to make the Ice Age clothing look more scrappy and ragged. He simply could not make it crude enough, in order to feel it was believable. Hopefully this kind of thinking about our ancestors will disappear, as archaeology reveals some real concrete examples of more advanced technology. Across the board, we are constantly finding that ancient cultures were doing more than we once thought, and the best way to drive that point home is with tangible and functional teaching collections. www.occpaleo.com

12/29/2023

Super cool artifact in the shop to share this week! The Mississippian Period in American History was at its height around 1,000 to 1200 AD, when the people were living in large cities with tens of thousands of inhabitants in the Southeast/Midwest. My schools never taught me this! Did yours? The drawing on right was based on a copper plate engraving of a warrior from this time period. Totally awesome! Our spotlighted artifact on the left is a spool, or earring, which was part of such a warrior's adornment. The "cross in circle" motif is thought to represent cardinal directions. From Ohio's Fort Ancient Culture, part of the Southeast Ceremonial Complex, a sphere of influence and trade that impacted almost half of North America a thousand years ago.

12/15/2023

For the holiday season, we branched out a little from strict historical teaching collections, and focused on some of the art inspired by the archaeological record. We've always believed there is an archaeologist in every family, and this is a fun time to discover them, as someone did for me when I was young. www.occpaleo.com

07/01/2023

Stone tools are such an essential part of the human story, and that is difficult to realize in our modern world. We might read about our shared prehistory in books, and see artifacts in cases on the wall, but we can do more. This summer we have been working on ways to bring the Stone Age, the vast majority of our history, to life in as many ways as possible. Holding, cutting, throwing, drawing, puzzles, and even modern games and cooking! Check out the ways at www.occpaleo.com

06/22/2023

Archery is much more than a backyard hobby and modern traditional sport. The bow and arrow goes back tens of thousands of years, as part of the history of cultures all over the world. Today its use is a choice, usually to enjoy a connection to our shared worldwide heritage. This summer Occpaleo will be launching a new line of functional replicas based on museum examples from the past. www.occpaleo.com

04/15/2023

Academic charts and graphs do little to stir the imagination for young school students of prehistory. At a recent demo, it was noticed that the main comment from children when seeing a display case of arrowheads was, "those are cool" and then walking on. It was very eye opening to see that when they could grab a replica hafted for action, the questions came in rapid fire! "what's that black stuff? is that glue? what's that string used to tie it on? why that kind of rock?" I learned years ago, that it was best to have an example of pine pitch, flint flakes, and deer tendon ready behind me to answer these questions. The students really wanted to learn more about life in the past....how did people glue things and tie things, and get through life in a similar way that we do today? www.occpaleo.com

02/16/2023

Our focus has always been to bring history to life. We have found that the best way to do that is to actually have something you can hold in your hand, to understand more deeply. I once saw a student look at a picture of a stone tool in a book, and admit that it looked just like any rock in the ground. The next day I presented a stone tool replica that could be held and explained, and it suddenly was understood. Our mission was born at that moment, as I could see the passion ignited. Here are some simple ways that we have worked this year to bring simple rocks out of the books, and bring prehistory to life. www.occpaleo.com

Address

3019 Bromley Court
Woodbridge, VA
22192

Telephone

(703) 987-0415

Website

http://www.occpaleo.com/

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Videos

First testing the replica on softer dead wood, before hard fresh staves. The model worked very well and still survives as a teaching example today.