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.
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.