Page 430 - J. C. Turner - History and Science of Knots

About the Authors 425
I became involved in the History and Science of Knots project through
Pieter van de Griend , whom I met at the University of Arhus. Being compatri-
ots, we talked a lot together , to keep our Dutch in shape; and in the course of
these conversations Pieter suggested I might add an archaeological perspective
to HSK. This I thought was a good idea, and a nice challenge, being totally
ignorant of the world of knotting.
I don't drive, don't smoke and don't drink, but one can get me to do
almost anything by tempting me with Bach, Mahler or Palestrina.'

Charles Warner

Charles Warner is an Australian, born in Sydney in 1920. He first learned
about knotting in the Scouts , and has since applied those skills in a variety
of outdoor sports, including climbing, canoeing, caving, camping and sailing.
He has used and developed them , too, in activities such as pioneering (field
engineering) and rescue work , and in the home manufacture of much of the
equipment needed for these operations. He is the author of a small but com-
prehensive book, A Fresh Approach to Knotting and Ropework, self-published
in 1992.
His profession was in research science, with CSIRO Australia; and he has
been interested in prehistoric rock art and in heraldry since youth.

Willemina Z. Wendrich

Willemina Wendrich was born in September 1961, in the city of Haarlem, in
The Netherlands. Her University education led in 1988 to an M.A. degree in
Theology, specialising in ancient religions. After that she enrolled as a Ph.D.
student at the Research School Centre of Non-Western Studies, her subject
being the social context of ancient Egyptian basketry. She expects to complete
her Ph.D. degree in 1996.
Since 1994 she has been co-director of the excavations at the ancient
harbour town of Berenike, on the Egyptian Red Sea coast. In 1995 she joined
the staff of the Netherlands Institute for Archaeology and Arabic Studies in
Cairo, and teaches archaeology to advanced students.
Her interest in knotting was aroused by a friend, a textile archaeologist,
who advised her not to specialize in textiles, but in basketry. She found
that little attention had been paid to the knotting and cordage that is found
on ancient baskets: and from 1987 onwards she has joined a large number of
excavations in order to study that aspect of basketry. She soon discovered that:
`To identify the construction, function and use of knots is a major task which
requires a thorough inventarization of the knots occurring in excavations, and
at the same time a broad general knowledge of knots in order to interpret the