Bitumen from the oil seep
waterproofs baskets and seams; first use of petroleum
AWhat it needs
Needs 9 other products in all, 2 of them directly.
- 02.27 Bitumen from the oil seepMaking Year 1 needs 9 products
- 01.08 First fire and stone hearthMaking Year 1 needs 5 products
- 01.06 Tinder and kindling storeMaking Year 1 raw materials only
- 01.07 Bow-drill fire setMaking Year 1 needs 3 products
- 01.03 Sharp stone flakeMaking Year 1 needs 1 product
- 01.02 HammerstoneMaking Year 1 raw materials only
- 01.05 Twisted plant-fibre cordMaking Year 1 needs 2 products
- 02.17 BasketsMaking Year 1 needs 4 products
- 02.03 Stone knives, scrapers and engraving pointsMaking Year 1 needs 3 products
- 02.01 Knapping kitMaking Year 1 needs 2 products
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
Where oil rises to the surface it dries into a black tar that melts when warmed and sets hard when cool. It is a natural glue and a perfect waterproofing, ready to use. It is also the first sign of what lies under the island.
CYou need
DSteps
- Approach the seep with care. Test the ground ahead with the pole at every step. The soft tar is deeper than it looks and holds whatever steps in it.
- Collect only the hard, dry sheets and lumps at the edges. Prise them up with a digging stick. Leave the soft pools alone.
- Carry the lumps in leaf-lined baskets. Bare tar sticks to the basket and to everything else.
- In camp, warm a lump on a flat stone at the edge of the fire until it softens and runs. Pick out leaves, sand and bones with a stick.
- Stir in fine dry sand, about one part to four of tar. It makes the tar stiffer and stops it running on a hot day.
- Pour it into leaf moulds to cool into cakes the size of a hand. The cakes keep for ever.
- To waterproof a basket: warm a cake until soft and spread it over the inside with a smooth warm stone, pressing it into the weave. A basket lined this way carries water.
- To seal a crack in a canoe or a trough: dry the crack, press in warm tar, and smooth it with a wet finger.
- To fix a blade or a point: use it warm, like pitch glue.
EIt worked if
- A tar-lined basket holds water for a day without a drip.
- A cake does not sag when left in the midday sun.
FWhat goes wrong
- It will not stick. The surface was wet or cold. Dry and warm it first.
- It runs in the sun. Too little sand. Melt it again and add more.
- It cracks off in the cold. Too much sand, or spread too thick. Thin layers hold best.
- Hands and clothes are black for a week. Rub with fat, then with ash, then wash.
GSafety
- Never go to the seep alone. Animals die in it, and so could a person.
- Melt tar beside the fire, not over it. It burns with thick black smoke. Work in the open air, upwind.
- Do not use tar-lined vessels for cooking or for hot water.
HIn the story
Diego follows a smell he has known all his life to a black pool ringed with the bones of animals. He stands looking at it for a long time. The others see tar for baskets. Diego, who has worked on oil fields, sees lamps, engines and roads, and knows he may not live to see any of them. He tells only Preet, who keeps it in her head until there is something to write it on.