cross-posted from: https://feddit.de/post/4071058
this post was submitted on 04 Oct 2023
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I remember reading about a self-sustaining village in the remote woods of Maine. They had to do everything. Even something as simple as clothing required that they plant flax, harvest it, process it (a laborious process), make it into thread, weave it, shape and sew it, etc. Due to their remoteness they may have had to make their own looms and tools too. Life back then was 24/7 hard labor.
Just watch Primitive Technology on Youtube, holy shit does it take alot of work just to get basic things like wood, charcoal, rope, or just to build a hut. Just getting enough iron to make a small knife must’ve taken weeks of work, assuming you even knew how to do all that shit.
Yes. It is an eye opener when you realize how much it takes just to do a simple task from scratch. It is no wonder survival back then really required a large family or tribe with everyone depending on everyone else. Most places don't have access to iron ore so someone would have to travel to trade it or you just stuck to stone tools. If you are lucky you might live in an area with copper nuggets that only require shaping.
Years ago there was a PBS show out of NC called "The Woodwright's Shop". I'd watch it out of fascination because his thing was to do carpentry using only the hand tools of the 1800s. It was something watching him use an adze and planers to laboriously shape a log or hand drill everything. I used to joke that it was only a matter of time before he dug up his own iron ore and made his own hand tools.
They used Bog iron. Iron ore is more of a late medieval thing.