Homestead mailing list

[Don Bowen <don.bowen AT earthlink.net>]

At 11/18/2006, you wrote:
> When someone first learned to work metal that technology
> put the flint knappers out of business,

Early bronze did not put knappers out of business.  Metal weaponry was very 
expensive and somewhat fragile.  Those Egyptian armies with bronze swords 
were backed up by bowmen shooting stone tipped arrows.  It was not until 
metal became cheaper that flint knapping was totally displaced.

As shown by Tain, every new development is expensive and there is less 
return for the effort.  Anyone can make a stone tool, some fewer can knapp 
a stone knife.  There is even more effort to mine, allow, then cast a 
bronze knife.  And so it goes to where no one person can make a modern 
automatic rifle.

A stone point can be knapped out from raw materials found almost 
anywhere.  All you need is a suitable stone, a hammer stone to break off 
preforms, small stones and antlers are the remainder of the tool kit.  Now 
without massive inputs of cheap energy, make a machine gun firing depleted 
uranium bullets.

Don Bowen              Awl Knotted Up                       KI6DIU
http://www.braingarage.com
My travel journal
http://www.braingarage.com/Dons/Travels/journal/Journal.html

I am omnivagant.  
> From tracy9j AT frontiernet.net  Sun Nov 19 11:29:30 2006
Return-Path: <tracy9j AT frontiernet.net>
X-Original-To: homestead AT lists.ibiblio.org
Delivered-To: homestead AT lists.ibiblio.org
Received: from relay01.roc.ny.frontiernet.net (relay01.roc.ny.frontiernet.net
        [66.133.182.164])
        by lists.ibiblio.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id B3E6D4C00D
        for <homestead AT lists.ibiblio.org>; Sun, 19 Nov 2006 11:29:30 -0500 
(EST)
X-Virus-Scanned: by amavisd-new-2.4.1 at filter16.roc.ny.frontiernet.net
X-Trace: 
53616c7465645f5ff0e7b827d4d95625ef004f14e092ff6af48e937bbb5c04f9849e7efcdfc1adc395ebd248bf83e646122d32565b02f3464949ba9571e8473581972eec1ebe0d55ae43456345cf457f7413f0bc27cbdf9f7d569f71e966856c
Received: from amd2400 (67-50-0-149.dsl1.stg.mn.frontiernet.net [67.50.0.149])
        by relay01.roc.ny.frontiernet.net (Postfix) with ESMTP id 925FD364483
        for <homestead AT lists.ibiblio.org>; Sun, 19 Nov 2006 16:29:29 +0000 
(UTC)
Message-ID: <005d01c70bf7$e6a5ed50$02fea8c0@amd2400>
From: "Tracy J" <tracy9j AT frontiernet.net>
To: <homestead AT lists.ibiblio.org>
References: 
<c84.7c97bde.329106c0 AT wmconnect.com><18c9df6e0611181726l329b6b1bx41abf2c50fa73bf2 AT mail.gmail.com>
        <45601527.5070402 AT bellsouth.net>
Date: Sun, 19 Nov 2006 10:28:56 -0600
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset="iso-8859-1";
        reply-type=original
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
X-Priority: 3
X-MSMail-Priority: Normal
X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook Express 6.00.2900.2869
X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2900.2962
Subject: [Homestead] Article From Bev
X-BeenThere: homestead AT lists.ibiblio.org
X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.8
Precedence: list
Reply-To: homestead AT lists.ibiblio.org
List-Id: <homestead.lists.ibiblio.org>
List-Unsubscribe: <http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/homestead>,
        <mailto:homestead-request AT lists.ibiblio.org?subject=unsubscribe>
List-Archive: <https://lists.ibiblio.org/sympa/arc/homestead>
List-Post: <mailto:homestead AT lists.ibiblio.org>
List-Help: <mailto:sympa AT lists.ibiblio.org?subject=HELP>
List-Subscribe: <http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/homestead>,
        <mailto:homestead-request AT lists.ibiblio.org?subject=subscribe>
X-List-Received-Date: Sun, 19 Nov 2006 16:29:30 -0000

This was a good read.  I remember back in the 70's when I first started 
working on biointensive methods.  I had no big tools so I had to make my 
garden with a little spade and my hands.  In 2 years, I was growing an awful 
lot of tomatoes, cukes, peppers, etc.  No potatoes, which really bummed me 
out.  I LOVED potatoes.  My kid now lives in a trailer park and has almost 
no yard and was really wanting to atart a veggie garden.   I gave him 
"Square Foot Gardening " for his birthday this year and he's really excited 
about it.  He had no idea you could grow so much in such a small area.  I 
guess he never realized how much food was coming out of the little gardens 
when he was growing up.  Anyway, the book is still in print and still is a 
great starting point.

Tracy Julian
in East North-Central Minnesota

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "EarthNSky" <erthnsky AT bellsouth.net>
To: <homestead AT lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Sunday, November 19, 2006 2:26 AM
Subject: Re: [Homestead] Food Security


> I saw this article on another list, and thought that since we were
> discussing food and hunger, it would be appropriate here, too.
>
>  http://www.energybulletin.net/22584.html
>
> Bev