3 ms·

> they would have needed over 130 trees’ worth of firewood for each one-story building, and 250 trees for two-story buildings. A settlement of 100 houses would

> they would have needed over 130 trees’ worth of firewood for each one-story building, and 250 trees for two-story buildings. A settlement of 100 houses would thus have required an astounding 3.8 square miles of forest. Even if they did this for ritual reasons, how would this practice even get started? I can’t imagine cutting down 250 trees worth of firewood for my 2 story home, even with modern equipment. That is an enormous amount of work and they were doing it without chainsaws.

Loughla 3y ago
Anecdotal. To build the barn on our property, my great grandfather fell trees, cut planks, and assembled it without power or gas tools. One tree made up the entire floor, loft, and feed bunk walls (~8000 sq.ft.) of 2"x12" lumber. He moved that tree roughly 3 miles by himself (with mules). There are tens of thousands of board feet of lumber making up this barn. What I'm getting at is that this amount of work is just unbelievable. I would never even think of trying it, and he did it in two months. By himself. So. Take the fact that they had no choice, and it was all they knew, it doesn't seem surprising. Modern life really is much, much easier than it used to be.
- api 3y ago
  He probably knew a lot of tricks for doing this kind of work fast and efficiently and was also probably ripped. People doing a lot of manual labor back then would have been in far better shape than most people today except athletes and people very into working out. I wonder if there was a good body of common knowledge about how to work without injuring yourself. That would have been important given the absence of advanced medicine.
- pbhjpbhj 3y ago
  Surely it's very unusual to do such work (in the past) by oneself. One hears of individuals making small dwellings (log cabins, over a period of 6+ months), but communities would get together to make barns. Not wanting to be insensitive, but was your grandfather an outcast; no relatives or friends that would help?
lazide 3y ago
People used to do a lot of work as part of the normal course of their day. It’s still possible to see it, just not as common. A lot of folks in the west go hydraulic all the way. Once you do, even picking up a shovel feels like you screwed up somewhere hah.
distortionfield 3y ago
Just wait until you hear about how much wood a single carbon steel sword needs to be fired and forged properly. It’s truly absurd how effective pre-industrial humans really were. Source: https://acoup.blog/2020/09/25/collections-iron-how-did-they-make-it-part-ii-trees-for-blooms/ https://acoup.blog/2020/09/25/collections-iron-how-did-they-...

Loughla 3y ago

Anecdotal. To build the barn on our property, my great grandfather fell trees, cut planks, and assembled it without power or gas tools. One tree made up the entire floor, loft, and feed bunk walls (~8000 sq.ft.) of 2"x12" lumber. He moved that tree roughly 3 miles by himself (with mules). There are tens of thousands of board feet of lumber making up this barn. What I'm getting at is that this amount of work is just unbelievable. I would never even think of trying it, and he did it in two months. By himself. So. Take the fact that they had no choice, and it was all they knew, it doesn't seem surprising. Modern life really is much, much easier than it used to be.

api 3y ago
He probably knew a lot of tricks for doing this kind of work fast and efficiently and was also probably ripped. People doing a lot of manual labor back then would have been in far better shape than most people today except athletes and people very into working out. I wonder if there was a good body of common knowledge about how to work without injuring yourself. That would have been important given the absence of advanced medicine.
pbhjpbhj 3y ago
Surely it's very unusual to do such work (in the past) by oneself. One hears of individuals making small dwellings (log cabins, over a period of 6+ months), but communities would get together to make barns. Not wanting to be insensitive, but was your grandfather an outcast; no relatives or friends that would help?

lazide 3y ago

People used to do a lot of work as part of the normal course of their day. It’s still possible to see it, just not as common. A lot of folks in the west go hydraulic all the way. Once you do, even picking up a shovel feels like you screwed up somewhere hah.

distortionfield 3y ago

Just wait until you hear about how much wood a single carbon steel sword needs to be fired and forged properly. It’s truly absurd how effective pre-industrial humans really were. Source: https://acoup.blog/2020/09/25/collections-iron-how-did-they-make-it-part-ii-trees-for-blooms/ https://acoup.blog/2020/09/25/collections-iron-how-did-they-...