3 ms·

Yeah, whenever I see pre-modern tools, clothing, shelter, I always think it's amazing and wonder at how much they must know to make it all work.

AlbertCory 4y ago
Like bronze: alloy copper & tin together, when tin only came from a very few places on earth.
- drewcoo 4y ago
  Linen is my usual example of cultural encoding of what we now see as early tech. Making linen from flax is complicated. https://magiclinen.com/blogs/blog/how-is-linen-made https://magiclinen.com/blogs/blog/how-is-linen-made Ridiculously complicated. And there were oral folk tales passed along for years to keep the cultural memory of it. Eventually Hans Christian Andersen and the Brothers Grimm wrote their versions down. Andersen: https://fairytalez.com/flax/ https://fairytalez.com/flax/ Grimm: https://etc.usf.edu/lit2go/175/grimms-fairy-tales/3081/mother-holle/ https://etc.usf.edu/lit2go/175/grimms-fairy-tales/3081/mothe... There were cultures thousands of miles apart with their own linen stories and games that all encode linen processing. There are more than these if you look for them: https://ltfai.org/app/uploads/2021/03/Flax-journey.pdf https://ltfai.org/app/uploads/2021/03/Flax-journey.pdf https://folklorefairytales.wordpress.com/2012/09/16/the-discovery-of-flax-from-myths-of-the-norsemen/ https://folklorefairytales.wordpress.com/2012/09/16/the-disc...
  - hzay 4y ago
    I read only Grimm's story, and there's no linenmaking in it?
mcguire 4y ago
Take, for example, Clovis points (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clovis_point https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clovis_point). There is an amazing amount of skill in those relatively utilitarian tools.
Aeolun 4y ago
How did they cut their nails, I always wonder. Like, by the time you have metal you can have scissors, but when you’re still working with flint that’s not really an option.
- ioseph 4y ago
  Bite them, tear them or wear them down with manual tasks I imagine. Flint could make a blade sharp enough to carefully carve your nails back if you really wanted
  - joseda-hg 4y ago
    If you're careful you can bite a spot and then use a different nail to break the longer part without much hassle It's a lot less destructive to the teeth and has the bonus of smoothing the nail
- throwaway4aday 4y ago
  Rough stones are easy enough to find if they needed to file them but if you've ever seen the hands of someone who does a variety of hard manual work every day it's more likely their nails were just worn and broken naturally with the odd bit chewed off.
- glandium 4y ago
  > How did they cut their nails They didn't. Probably like felids don't cut their claws.
- Falkon1313 4y ago
  No need to cut them if you occasionally idly rub a rough rock against them, filing them down before they can get long.

AlbertCory 4y ago

Like bronze: alloy copper & tin together, when tin only came from a very few places on earth.

drewcoo 4y ago
Linen is my usual example of cultural encoding of what we now see as early tech. Making linen from flax is complicated. https://magiclinen.com/blogs/blog/how-is-linen-made https://magiclinen.com/blogs/blog/how-is-linen-made Ridiculously complicated. And there were oral folk tales passed along for years to keep the cultural memory of it. Eventually Hans Christian Andersen and the Brothers Grimm wrote their versions down. Andersen: https://fairytalez.com/flax/ https://fairytalez.com/flax/ Grimm: https://etc.usf.edu/lit2go/175/grimms-fairy-tales/3081/mother-holle/ https://etc.usf.edu/lit2go/175/grimms-fairy-tales/3081/mothe... There were cultures thousands of miles apart with their own linen stories and games that all encode linen processing. There are more than these if you look for them: https://ltfai.org/app/uploads/2021/03/Flax-journey.pdf https://ltfai.org/app/uploads/2021/03/Flax-journey.pdf https://folklorefairytales.wordpress.com/2012/09/16/the-discovery-of-flax-from-myths-of-the-norsemen/ https://folklorefairytales.wordpress.com/2012/09/16/the-disc...
- hzay 4y ago
  I read only Grimm's story, and there's no linenmaking in it?

mcguire 4y ago

Take, for example, Clovis points (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clovis_point https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clovis_point). There is an amazing amount of skill in those relatively utilitarian tools.

Aeolun 4y ago

How did they cut their nails, I always wonder. Like, by the time you have metal you can have scissors, but when you’re still working with flint that’s not really an option.

ioseph 4y ago
Bite them, tear them or wear them down with manual tasks I imagine. Flint could make a blade sharp enough to carefully carve your nails back if you really wanted
- joseda-hg 4y ago
  If you're careful you can bite a spot and then use a different nail to break the longer part without much hassle It's a lot less destructive to the teeth and has the bonus of smoothing the nail
throwaway4aday 4y ago
Rough stones are easy enough to find if they needed to file them but if you've ever seen the hands of someone who does a variety of hard manual work every day it's more likely their nails were just worn and broken naturally with the odd bit chewed off.
glandium 4y ago
> How did they cut their nails They didn't. Probably like felids don't cut their claws.
Falkon1313 4y ago
No need to cut them if you occasionally idly rub a rough rock against them, filing them down before they can get long.