Ancient buoyancy devices in Sweden : floats made of reed, club-rush, inflated skins and animal bladders

• This article sets out to discuss the material culture of traditional physical education from an ethnobiological point of view. The focus is on the use of reed, Phragmites australis Trin. ex Steud., club-rush, Schoenoplectus lacustris L., inflated skins and animal bladders when making buoyancy devices used by children and adolescents for learning to swim. As these teaching methods occurred from thousands of years ago up to very recently, it is argued that child-related practices connected with the bio-cultural domain and arising out of human-biota interaction have noticeably transcended time and societal changes.

Ämnesord

MEDICIN OCH HÄLSOVETENSKAP  -- Hälsovetenskap -- Idrottsvetenskap (hsv//swe)

MEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES  -- Health Sciences -- Sport and Fitness Sciences (hsv//eng)

HUMANIORA  -- Historia och arkeologi -- Historia (hsv//swe)

HUMANITIES  -- History and Archaeology -- History (hsv//eng)

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Annan samhällsvetenskap -- Tvärvetenskapliga studier inom samhällsvetenskap (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Other Social Sciences -- Social Sciences Interdisciplinary (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

Child culture

ethnobiology

sport history

physical education

swimming equipment

traditional games

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