Craft exercise 1.docx
Posted at Feb 15/2011 11:13PM:
kevin thomas:
Ore and Fuel exercise
I found the research practicum a very useful exercise in that it forced us to pull together information about every separate factor of production. Natural resources, fuel production, preparation, power, transportation, and time all had to be taken into account. Somewhat to my surprise, we were able to find all the information we required—we had a mixture of hard and soft woods for superior charcoal, a fast-flowing river that could support a water wheel, high-iron ore, and nearby iron bogs, along with road access to the nearby Iron Mountain. But for even a modest iron production, the amount of manpower required to actually run the operation would be daunting. The charcoal production alone would likely absorb half the team’s attention at all times. For all the accounted factors, the ones that loomed large in my mind were the human problems—where would we get supplies? Are we going to be competing with others? Are there trade routes we can take advantage of? Who, indeed, is going to buy our iron? For all that I understand the basic operation and limitations of bloomeries, the intersection of culture, industry, and resources remains far harder to understand and account for.
