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Did you know that knots are among the oldest human technologies? In Five Knots, Timandra Harkness unties a handful of them, and explores how they string together history, culture, forensics, life-saving and mathematics – and can even be examined to help solve crimes.

Today, a cargo net might be made up of a series of knots known as a sheet bend. But we know the sheet bend goes back as far as 7,000 BC because an ancient piece of net – using the very same knot – was discovered preserved in a marsh between Russia and Finland.

Going back even further, the remains of a man thought to be 20,000 years old was uncovered in Russia with a necklace around his throat. Although there was no string left, the beads were present and correct. He must have done something to secure the two ends of twine and, presumably, he knotted them, says Des.

“Mankind, before the Stone Age, was really a String Age,” says the rope worker.

Forensic knot expert Mike Lucas helps police to solve murders and other crimes where rope has been involved.

A knot can even provide some indication as to whether the culprit is left or right-handed.

It all started 25 years ago with a murder in Bournemouth. The police knew who had committed the crime – they just couldn’t pin it on him. But they had the rope that was used, and Mike was able to relate the knotting to the guy who did the job.

Clues that point towards who tied a knot include which way a knot twists, whether it’s a conventional knot (either a yachtsman’s knot, a climber’s knot, or a fishing knot) and how well it’s tied, tight or slack. A knot can even provide some indication as to whether the culprit is left or right-handed.

In one instance, when there were many knots used, Mike went through the accused’s house to look at his pictures, and how he tied his bicycle up in the garage. And he was able to successfully reconcile knots in the house with those on the victim.

We’ve all heard of the Windsor knot but did you know there are in fact “85 Ways to Tie a Tie”?

Physicist Thomas Fink, who co-authored the book of the same name, explains how you wouldn’t want to wear all of the combinations in public, because many are particularly “wonky.” But on top of the four traditional methods of tying a tie, they found nine other wearable options. He explains too that the humble tie, connected in a loop, is an example of an “unknot” in a branch of mathematics called “knot theory.”

Does the way we tie a tie say something about ourselves? Thomas does think there is one trend that persists: “Tyrants tend to have the biggest tie knots. Like Windsor knot or beyond…”

Professional rock climber Dave Macleod lives near Ben Nevis, and spends his time attempting new climbing routes in Scotland and all over the world – the harder the better. He explains just how important knots are in his line of work, and how the lack of one almost lead to his death.

For Dave, an accident that left him seriously injured could have been prevented with the use of a simple knot. On the day in question, he was climbing with a friend’s rope, not realising that it had been cut short. As a result, his climbing partner accidentally lowered him off the end of the rope. He went into freefall, ending up wrapped around a tree at the base of the crag. “If we’d known the rope was going to be too short, or was at risk of being too short, then I would have just tied a knot in the end of the rope,” says Dave. Almost any knot would have worked.