Home, Crafts and Hobbies Atlas
Things this atlas does not know. Each entry is a question that specialists
have posed and not settled, recorded with what would actually resolve it and which
expertise the answer needs.
These are kept deliberately, rather than quietly omitted. An atlas that shows
only what it is sure of implies a confidence it has not earned, and the gaps are often where
the interesting work is. Several sit exactly where two fields fail to meet: identifying the
hyssop of the Hebrew Bible needs a botanist and a philologist of Biblical Hebrew, and neither
one settles it alone.
Grouped by the field an answer needs. A question sitting between two disciplines appears under both, which is why the group counts add up to more than the number of questions.
Showing 21 to 23 of 23 open questions, page 2 of 2.
Not Yet Classified 23
Pottery
When was porcelain, as distinct from stoneware, first made in China?
Open Pottery
Why It Is Open Chinese tradition never classified porcelain apart from stoneware, grouping both as high-fired ware against low-fired earthenware, so no historical record marks the moment a recognizably distinct porcelain first appeared.
What Would Settle It A materials study fixing when Chinese high-fired ceramics first meet the translucency and composition thresholds used to define porcelain today.
Expertise Needed ceramic materials science
Question posed in
Pottery (Wikipedia), en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pottery, Porcelain section.
Last (Shoemaking)
When Was the Shoemaking Last First Used
Open Last (Shoemaking)
Why It Is Open Standard reference material documents Roman-era and later medieval use of the last but gives no invention date, era, or archaeological find naming the origin of the tool itself, as opposed to footwear generally.
What Would Settle It A dated archaeological find of a shoemaking last, or a specialist history of shoemaking tools naming an origin period, distinct from a general history of shoes.
Expertise Needed History of technology and archaeology of craft tools
Question posed in
Last (Shoemaking) (Wikipedia).
Sledgehammer
When was the sledgehammer introduced as a tool?
Open Sledgehammer
Why It Is Open The standard reference consulted for this entity gives the Old English etymology of the word sledgehammer but names no date or era for when the tool itself came into use.
What Would Settle It A history-of-technology or archaeology source naming when heavy long-handled two-handed hammers first appear in the record, or their approximate era of origin.
Expertise Needed History of technology
Question posed in
Sledgehammer (Wikipedia).