Allison Markwood
H English 12
18 March 2011
Carpentry
Working with wood is a skill that has been around since man created his first tool. From carpentry’s beginnings, it has developed enormously, but in its essence, the tools and techniques our modern carpenters use today are the same as those used in the Stone Age. The Bureau of Labor Statistics defines carpenters as “people who construct, erect, install and repair structures and fixtures made from wood and other materials.” This trade has an extensive history, an expansive modern field, and with it, I plan to build a tree house, thus making a difference in a kid’s life.
The term “carpentry” comes from the Late Latin term “carpentum” which means two-wheeled vehicle. The woodworkers of the Roman Empire built the chariots that allowed the fast travel. They also built the foundation for early highways, between which concrete cement was laid. The innovative ideas of these workers allowed for the Romans to conquer and build such a vast empire. The woodworkers were thus named carpenters.
Carpentry began many years ago and emerged from nations all over the world. Early Europeans created long, wooden homes from planks of wood that measured up to one hundred feet. A Stone Age city from nine thousand years ago created their buildings from mud bricks, supported by posts and beams. The remnants of these buildings have allowed modern scholars to study the way carpentry has evolved over years and across the different cultures of the nations. The first known city’s population, who lived until at least 5600 B.C., lived in a unified series of structures that all linked together like a giant fort; they had heavy support beams in the walls and for a roof, smaller beams, reeds and packed mud. About thirty-seven centuries ago, on the island of Crete, in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, the natives used wooden columns with a downward taper (opposite of those later made popular by the Greeks) and stone and