Re: Sleighs and other winter transport? And fur jackets
Posted: Fri Sep 27, 2019 7:29 pm
As mentioned above, medieval Europe, from our point of view, seems unpopulated and 'wild,' but forests were very controlled commodities, including the lumber and hunted animals, not just meat, but feathers, leather, and furs.
As to sleds and sleighs, even though not explicitly mentioned, frankly, the only way to move horse-powered vehicles through snowy regions.
Part of the almost-extinction of the American bison wasn't just to deprive Native populations of independence via slaughtering their main food source. Up until automobiles fully replaced sleighs in rural North America, bison hide blankets were a very common item to keep people warm while traveling in the winter in open carts that had had rails placed on them for passage on snowy roads.
As to sleds and sleighs, even though not explicitly mentioned, frankly, the only way to move horse-powered vehicles through snowy regions.
Part of the almost-extinction of the American bison wasn't just to deprive Native populations of independence via slaughtering their main food source. Up until automobiles fully replaced sleighs in rural North America, bison hide blankets were a very common item to keep people warm while traveling in the winter in open carts that had had rails placed on them for passage on snowy roads.