Keep reading to learn all about the historical context and evolution of this unsurpassed raw material that has helped to consolidate society as we know it.
What is wood and what is it made of?
First of all, let’s discuss what wood is. This material is the main component of the trunk, branches, and roots of woody plants and is primarily made up of:
- Cellulose is a substance that acts as the framework of plants.
- Lignin is a compound that binds the cellulose fibers together and thus makes the wood stiff.
- Other components such as starch, which is a compound carbohydrate common to all plants.
- Oils and resins protect it, among other components.
First, feel free to review our wood basics article where you can find a detailed description of all the technical information you need to know about this material.
History of wood
Now, let’s talk about history.
Wood from prehistory to the Ancient Age (-476 B.C.)
The use of wood in all kinds of applications has been documented for as long as there have been historical records.
In fact, primitive tools such as small knives with wooden handles and stone blades have been found in many archaeological excavations.
However, it is known that wood has been used even before mankind began to write, meaning that humans have been using wood since prehistoric times.
But why is wood so widely used?
Mainly because this material is easy to handle and its extraction is not as complex and demanding in terms of resources as metal extraction can be.
Also, keep in mind that trees are everywhere, so the supply is almost inexhaustible (or so it was thought for thousands of years).
However, the most important characteristic of wood is its combustion capacity as it allowed humans to control fire. As a result, humans were able to:
- Cook food.
- Protect from the cold.
- Keep predators away (remember that we were not always the hunters, we used to be the prey).
- Carry out activities in low sunlight.
Wood in early civilizations
As time progressed, wood extraction techniques and woodworking skills improved.
In ancient Sumer (the first civilization), wood is already used for construction purposes and in the manufacture of elaborate tools, such as agricultural implements.
Sumer is also the birthplace of the wheel, the greatest invention in human history, which still has thousands of applications today.
The wheel served among other things to facilitate ploughing the land, which initially had to be done manually but later could be done using an ox or some kind of cattle that pulled a cart propelled by wooden wheels.
Then, the use of wood diversified so much that human beings went from making small tools to constructing houses and buildings of different degrees of complexity in a short period of time.
Likewise, wood was also used to build new and better weapons and shields, which allowed the creation of well-supplied armies capable of conquering lands and establishing large settlements of people, as in the case of the first great cities.
Wood in Ancient Rome
One of these great cities was Ancient Rome, capital of the Roman Empire, whose inhabitants were known for their massive use of wood.
In fact, they used it so much that they deforested large areas of forests throughout southern Europe since almost everything was made of wood:
- House foundations.
- Chairs.
- Tables.
- Military chariots.
- Shields.
- Sword handles.
- Arrows.
- Boats.
Yet this wasn’t the only use of wood, it was also a source of charcoal for cooking and, most importantly, for smelting metal (copper and its alloy: bronze) and making tools and weapons (remember that the Roman Empire was primarily a military empire).
On the other hand, ancient societies also traded in wood and this is known because, for example, archaeological excavations in Egypt have found pieces of wood from trees from various parts of Europe, that is, from the other side of the world that could only have crossed so much territory in boats or caravans of traders.
Wood during the Middle Ages (476 B.C. – 1492 B.C.)
The fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 BC marked the beginning of the Middle Ages, a time of great political and social instability for the world.
At that time several wars were fought, some of them lasting for decades, so the demand for wooden articles grew exponentially.
Likewise, wood was employed to store beer, the most common beverage in Europe at least, as it preserved its flavor and kept it fresh for longer periods of time.
In the same way, people who worked with wood products were always employed and had to learn various techniques to craft wood quickly.
Imagine how many arrows they would have to make per day or how many shields they replaced after each battle.
And not to mention all the work involved in making catapults or siege towers, as well as stretchers, etc.
Medieval wood construction
Equally remarkable was the advance of construction techniques, especially because many churches, mosques, and synagogues were built, featuring intricate wooden decorations made entirely by hand and beams that supported all the weight of the structures.
The same applied to the gates, for the great gates of the fortresses were huge wooden planks glued together and reinforced with pieces of metal.
In fact, it was not uncommon for blacksmiths to work hand in hand with carpenters, or for a blacksmith to know carpentry as well.
So if, for example, you had been involved in the construction of a church, it might happen that some nobleman recognized your work and appointed you to build furniture for his palace and, as you can imagine, nobility would not want materials like those used by the vulgar (common people).
Therefore, nobles demanded the best quality wood, so luxury cabinetmaking, that is, the art of making fine furniture, began to boom.
Shipbuilding also began to be in great demand
An example of this is the Nordic carpenters who became renowned between the 9th and 11th centuries for the excellent quality of the ships they built.
These ships were the main means for trade and the invasion of territories in countries such as England, France, Spain, Italy, and even the northern part of Africa.
Many centuries later, exactly between the middle and end of the 15th century, a trend to establish which monarchy would impose its naval power began.
Spain and Portugal took the lead.
Portugal employed many craftsmen specialized in wood to build ships known as Caravels that could withstand ocean voyages.
For their part, the Spanish created the Galleon.
This occurred because the overland passage to India or China was ruled out given that, after the fall of the Eastern Roman Empire in 1453 BC, the Turkish Ottoman Empire settled as the controlling power on a large part of the Silk Road: a geographic corridor through which large-scale trade between Europe and Asia was carried out.
For that reason, Christopher Columbus had to undertake the voyage to “The Indies” by sea because Europeans needed raw materials from the East, such as spices (which were the refrigerators of the time) and did not want to pay heavy taxes to the Turks to pass through.
The problem or good fortune for Columbus was that in 1492 he got “slightly” out of the course and ended up in Central America… but that’s another story.
Wood in the Modern Age (1492-1789)
New wars arose after the discovery of America, but now the presence of ships was very important for countries such as England and France began a process of rearmament to put themselves on par with Spain and Portugal, which increased the demand for wood even more.
Since the beginning of the 16th century, there is evidence of contracts commissioned by the crowns of different countries for the construction of more and better ships.
Likewise, it is known that oak and pine wood were very desirable since then, since they are very durable and resist humidity relatively well.
In addition, reaching the American continent allowed European settlers to get to know new varieties of wood like tropical woods.
However, Europeans initially were reluctant to work with the native woods of the Americas because they did not know how to.
They were not accustomed to working with woods that had more resin and oils than European and Asian ones.
Therefore, they began to import the seeds of the trees they did know and established plantations of oak, pine, cherry, walnut, ash and fir, among others.
It is worth mentioning that with time they also learned to work the native woods of America, although the seeds of the tropical trees did not thrive well in Europe due to seasonal variations in climate.
So what they did was to transport the pieces of wood already felled to their destination.
During the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the use of wood excelled in the manufacture of all kinds of crafts and decorations for church interiors.
The carving technique, consisting of modeling the wood to give it the desired shape, was greatly developed during this period; so much so that some ships were even considered works of art due to the level of detail in their hulls and floors.
Also, cooperage, i. e., the elaboration of wooden barrels to store drinks, was very successful. Especially during the long sea voyages, a container capable of storing rum or whiskey without corrupting its flavor was needed.
Better said, if you like Whisky, be thankful that Oak wood exists and that the barrels where the liquor is stored are made with it. Without the Oak barrel, Whisky would be impossible to manufacture because it is wood that gives it its characteristic flavor.
Keep in mind that the crews of any ship were maintained through the intake of alcohol and cured meats as they were the only foods that could last several months, which was how long a voyage between America and Europe, for example, could take.
Then you can imagine the importance of preserving alcohol properly; if you were the captain of the ship and something happened to the alcohol, there was a risk that your crew would mutiny and your life could end on the high seas. This was very common, especially on pirate ships.
Wood in the Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution began in Great Britain in 1760. This was a process of economic change as the production of goods was massified to supply the needs of growing European cities such as London.
During this period, much more wood was used than ever before as the first factories were born that housed tens or hundreds of workers a day.
That’s right, with wood. Therefore, the extraction of this material intensified.
Back then wood was used to make charcoal, the product of burning pieces of wood.
So when wood was burned, the size of the firewood was reduced to smaller pieces of charcoal that were easier to transport.
On the other hand, the great migrations of people from the countryside to the cities generated a greater use of wood for the construction of houses and the use of charcoal for cooking and shelter from the cold.
This mineral coal served as fuel for large industrial machines used to manufacture all kinds of products, for example:
- Mounting for cannons.
- Butts for firearms.
- Wheels for artillery.
Armies were industrialized as well, resulting in a total change in the way of fighting.
In fact, a few decades later, the American War of Independence began and in 1789 the French Revolution broke out, motivated in part by the advances in military technology that was in some way driven by wood.
Wood in the Contemporary Age (1789-present)
After the events of the French Revolution, the Industrial Revolution took its course.
This led to the invention of new machines, many of them steam-powered.
For example, the engine of a steamship worked by heating the water inside it by pouring coal into boilers.
As the water heated, it would come out in the form of steam and propel the boat.
At the same time, the ship had a mechanism to constantly fill the engine with more water, ensuring that the system would continue to function until the coal was turned off.
Decades later, towards the end of the 19th century, several of the commercial presentations of wood had their first forms, i.e. laminated board, veneers, and plywood began to be distributed.
Wood in the first half of the 20th century
In the 1900s, the United States led the quest and extraction of new timber species in the Amazon.
Hevea rubber or rubber tree (Hevea brasiliensis) was exploited to extract rubber, the raw material used in the vulcanization process to obtain tires for the automobile industry, which also used wood to make panels and chair frames, among other applications.
Later, wood remained in use for military purposes during the two world wars. However, its role as fuel was drastically reduced as petroleum derivatives became the main fuel on the planet.
Wood in the second half of the 20th century
In the post-war period, the timber industry underwent major changes: technologically, economically and ecologically.
Sawmills acquired new machinery capable of cutting timber more finely and the costs of timber extraction were reduced, reducing final prices.
The problem was that indiscriminate logging and the consequent deforestation over many centuries began to be recorded and taken into account, which prompted incentives for sustainable logging of timber species, at least for a time.
Various governmental measures were taken in almost all countries aimed at preserving species considered endangered and those at risk of extinction.
However, timber is a very lucrative business and therefore illegal hunting is always the order of the day.
Wood harvesting
Wood resins and oils began to be massively used to create glues and varnishes for treating other woods.
Additionally, in the 1970s, plastic wood was created as a way to recycle wood by coating it with plastic so that it could be used primarily for construction purposes.
With plastic lumber, you can make almost anything you want, from a table to the beams of a house.
Also, the tendency was to reuse wood by manufacturing prefabricated materials. At the same time, emphasis was placed on the use of the most abundant species on the planet, such as pine wood.
Timber in the 21st century
The last 30 years have been challenging for the timber industry as deforestation from illegal logging, logging for the cultivation of illicit crops and cattle ranching have put more species at risk of disappearing.
This is a global problem, but it is most prevalent in Central and South America, Asia, and Africa.
In addition, it is becoming increasingly difficult to find natural wood.
To give you an example, it will be very difficult to get legal Cedarwood because its availability is very reduced since it is protected.
Therefore, in order to commercialize it, many governmental permits and more bureaucratic procedures are needed.
Therefore, the producer’s costs go up and consequently the buyer’s costs go up as well.
If you are irresponsible and acquire that wood from an illegal source, you will have your Cedarwood today, but who knows if you will get it tomorrow since there will be fewer specimens available.
That is why the wood industry currently bets on sustainable cultivation that ensures that the trees are in plantations where their felling is guaranteed to be balanced and compensated with the planting of new specimens.
As you can see, the society in which we live would be very different or perhaps would not even exist without wood as a raw material.
That is why we must take action to prevent wood-producing trees from becoming extinct.
Plant a tree or if you cannot do it, be aware of not buying wood of illegal origin because that is the only real way to end or at least reduce the problem of illegal and indiscriminate logging.
Remember, wood is necessary, but trees are even more so, or else why do you think that climate change is becoming more and more inclement with our planet?