Cambios

The absence of ceramic recipients can be explained as they were fragile and would not withstand the continuous toing and froing of the shepherd’s life. Given their lightness, wooden receptacles were more popular than those made out of copper, tin or iron, which were all much heavier. The containers made out of lighter metals, such as aluminium or galvanised sheet, did not come into general use until well into the 20^th 20th century.

In the early 20^th 20th century, the household utensils and those used to make cheese were still made out of wood; they were sometimes produced by the shepherds themselves and sometimes by local craftsmen<ref>Augusto PANYELLA noted that, even though using wooden receptacles was not exclusively Basque, “we have tended to believe that it is something that has survived for ages, since time memorial.”: See Los kaikuak (kaiku) del Museo Etnológico de Barcelona” in ''Munibe, ''XIV (1962) p. 259. The text by Strabo (1st century BC) is often quoted in that regard: The mountain inhabitants “used cups hewed out of wood, like the Celts”. ''Geograf''. III, 3, 7.</ref>.

There was general agreement about this past weaving activity of the shepherd in the surveys. In fact, in nearly all the villages and sheepfolds located on the Atlantic side of the watershed, it was reported that shepherds spent their free time spinning ewe’s wool and making socks on the mountain in the early 20^th 20th century. This craft task started to decline during the century and had practically disappeared in the middle of the century.