Phase 01 — First days: water, fire, shelter / About year 1
01.04
Digging stick
digs roots, clay, pits and post holes
AWhat it needs
Needs 2 other products in all, 1 of them directly.
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- 01.04 Digging stickMaking Year 1 needs 2 products
- 01.03 Sharp stone flakeMaking Year 1 needs 1 product
- 01.02 HammerstoneMaking Year 1 raw materials only
Open a box to see what it needs. A dashed box is a product already drawn in full: click it to jump there. In the org chart, drag to move around.
BWhy
Hands cannot dig firm ground. The digging stick loosens soil for roots, clay, pits, post holes and the latrine. It is the first farm tool.
CYou need
- A straight branch of hard, heavy wood (oak, ash, ironwood), as thick as two thumbs and as long as from the ground to the chest
- A stone flake (01.03)
DSteps
- Choose a living branch or a sound dead one. It must not bend easily or feel light.
- Cut it off by sawing a groove all the way round with the flake, then snapping it at the groove.
- Trim off the side twigs and scrape the bark from the lower arm's length.
- Shape the thick end into a flat wedge, like a chisel, as long as a hand. Scrape away from the body.
- Shape the other end into a blunt round point for making holes.
- To dig: drive the wedge in with both hands, lever the handle back to break the soil loose, then lift the loose soil out with the hands, a shell or a slab of bark.
- When there is a fire, dry the wedge over the coals until it stops steaming and turns pale brown. It will hold its edge much longer.
EIt worked if
- It opens a knee-deep hole in firm ground without the edge crushing or the shaft cracking.
FWhat goes wrong
- The edge mushrooms. The wood is too soft or too green. Re-cut the wedge shorter and steeper, and dry it at the fire.
- The shaft snaps when levering. Too thin, or a knot in the wrong place. Use a thicker branch and lever in small bites.
- Blisters. Scrape the handle smooth and change hands often.
GIn the story
Omar makes his before he has eaten. By the end of the first day he has tested the ground in six places, and tells Adam where the garden will go, months before there is anything to plant.
