How were kayaks made?
Driftwood would be collected from beaches. The wood would be formed using the tools they had. Tools would have been chipped or ground out of stone, such as obsidian, chert, quartz, or slate; carved from antler, ivory, wood, or bone; or cold-hammered out of meteoric iron or native copper. Wood used was typically fir, pine, spruce and willow. The addition of iron-based tools did decrease the amount of time spent building a kayak since iron does not dull as quickly as traditional materials. Historians are not in agreement if iron improved the quality of the kayak or not. Peterson, in _Skinboats of Greenland_, presents some information that it did. Seal skins would then be sewn onto a complete frame. Typical skin used was from the bearded seal but some groups did use the sea lion, caribou and walrus skins. The hair was removed from the skins. The skins were treated with oil for waterproofness. Oil typically had to be applied every 4-8 days depending on the skin used. Care was taken that wh
