#pyrotechnology

[pyromantic-pyromaniac]

old people...

pyrotechnology if they got a happily ever after...

if only ford hadn't sealed her away for all those years, huh...?

+ if entropy aged physically like a mortal...

[moneeb0930]

The Haya people of Tanzania, residing near Lake Victoria, developed an advanced steel-making process over 2,000 years ago, long before similar techniques emerged in Europe. Archaeological excavations in the 1970s at the village of Buhaya uncovered ancient iron-smelting furnaces, revealing the Haya’s sophisticated metallurgical methods.

Advanced Steel Production

The Haya furnaces, sometimes referred to as "Nkuhlu furnaces," could reach temperatures of up to 1,800°C (3,272°F), enabling the production of high-carbon steel. This remarkable feat was achieved using preheated forced air supplied by bellows made from animal hides, ensuring a controlled and continuous flow of oxygen to the smelting process. The resulting carbon steel was comparable in quality to steel produced during the Industrial Revolution, demonstrating the Haya’s mastery of pyrotechnology and metallurgy.

Applications and Impact

The Haya utilized their high-quality steel to manufacture tools, weapons, and agricultural implements, which contributed to their thriving society. This discovery challenges the Eurocentric narrative that advanced steel production originated primarily in Europe or Asia and highlights Africa’s rich history of technological innovation.

Scientific and Historical Significance

The Haya’s techniques reflect an early understanding of thermodynamics and materials science, showcasing indigenous African advancements in metallurgy. These findings underscore the often-overlooked contributions of pre-colonial Africa to global technological history and challenge outdated perceptions of historical technological development.

[foggynightdonut]

Heated blade cores dated to 65,000 years ago discovered at Klipdrift Shelter, South Africa, showing how pieces were flaked off to form a single blade (left), variety of flaked blades (right) Image credit https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0163874

The Evolution of a toolkit

There is a consensus that by about 300,000 years ago, there is a distinct shift in stone tool technology that is recognized by scientists as a shift from the late Acheulean to the Middle Stone Age (MSA). The MSA has flakes that are made on prepared cores and shows a shift away from hand axes as the primary tool type. A prepared core is a core where the core is carefully shaped so that it is ready, or prepared, to strike off a flake of a particular shape. One of the classic shapes was a point, and points can be used as projectile tips, knives, scraping tools, etc.

The types of points proliferate and begin to show regional and temporal patterns. Some points are unmodified flakes that have been knocked off, with great skill, from the prepared cores. These become a common flake form around 300,000 years ago. Others are carefully shaped with repeated flaking into a biface, and some appear to have received their final shaping with a technique called pressure flaking where the flakes are pushed off in a highly controlled manner. These bifacial points become common between 110,000 to 70,000 years ago. Some are long and thin and others short and squat. Some have bases that have been modified in ways consistent with hafting. All of this suggests an intense concern with the production of projectile points and knife blades.

A second stone tool form that begins to proliferate is called blades. Blades are very common after about 110,000 years ago. Blades are flakes that are twice as long as they are wide. Many blades are also made on prepared cores, and some of these cores take on regular forms so that they can produce many blades all rather similar in shape and size. Blades are also highly variable, some being long and others short. Evolving out of blade technology is microlithic technology, and in most cases microlithic technology involves the snapping of blades into smaller pieces, and then the blunting of one edge. Ethnographic and archaeological examples show us that the blunted edge was inserted into a groove in wood or bone, glued in along with other microliths, to create projectile point or cutting edges. Overall, there is a pattern of miniaturization over time, and this has been interpreted to be directed at lightening the weight of the projectile. The earliest evidence for microliths comes from a field site at Pinnacle Point, South Africa, dated to about 72,000 years ago.

Points take a dramatic turn around 70,000 years ago when in South Africa hominins begin to make them on bone. Bone points require careful grinding and polishing, and based on ethnographic evidence, they are commonly combined with blades into very effective projectiles. Bone tools appear in other classes, and the earliest now known come from North Africa. This expansion of raw material to bone is paralleled by an expansion of new stone raw materials and an increasing concern with raw material quality. Raw materials are extracted from longer distances, often 50 kilometers, or even up to 200 kilometers away. Raw materials are subjected to a new form of modification called heat treatment. In fact, the oldest evidence in the world for heat treatment, what we can think of as the first raw material pyrotechnology, comes from the field site of Pinnacle Point dated to around 162,000 years ago.

A general pattern is that over time these stone tool forms get smaller and smaller, and this is thought to represent a concern with lightening the weight to increase the distance of a cast projectile. Some scientists think that when these points, once they reach the small size of ethnographically documented atlatl and bow and arrow points, signal that this technology had appeared. This is around 70,000 years ago.

What was an MSA hominin society like?

There is consensus that by 70,000 years ago, just around the time modern human left Africa, all the characteristics typical of modern hunter-gatherers were present. They were cognitively modern. They had that special form of social learning unique to modern humans. And they had an evolved proclivity to cooperate at large scales. They had multiscale society and were organized into tribes. They had the ability to make the entire modern human hunter-gatherer toolkit and rapidly adapted it to local conditions. They had complex symbolic systems and language and institutions to organize society. In other words, they were fully modern humans. But when did this first evolve? Were hominins dating to 200,000 years ago or 100,000 years ago fully modern in the way we have defined them above? Researchers don’t have an answer for this yet, but progress for these questions is rapid, and scientists are close in on the answers.

[vintage-tech]

Paul Stanley being more metal than you ever will be.

[epicfireworks]

PYROTECHNOLOGY 150 SHOTS by Epic Fireworks

[suestoscribbles]

Founding February, Week 2: Government, Population and Infrastructure

36 questions about my WIP's world, with thanks to @pheita for compiling this list and creating Founding February!

The tremendously long list is below the cut :)

1. Are there non-human sentient species? Describe them.

Legend holds that sentient dragons exist, but no one believes in them.

2. Did the people evolve on this planet or come from elsewhere? Do they still know they come from some different planet/realm?

The people evolved from this planet.

3. What is the relationship between the different species? Are there any myths/legends about where they come from?

The islands of the world exist in a vast ocean. They are clustered together and are surrounded by extreme biodiversity, but the people are bound to the lands. Legends tell of the price for people’s gift of habitable soil is stewardship of the relentlessly growing herds of ungulates. After the collapse, art and literature are still valued, but consolidation of power is viewed fearfully by most, and clandestinely done by few.

4. Where and when did civilization begin? Are there historical records?

Civilization began at the ancient city where the wide fresh river runs from mountain to sea and the plains give way to the foothills. Records of clay tablets baked in fires and carved inscriptions resemble the glyphs still in use today, though not all of the words in the inscriptions continue to bear meaning.

5. What is the total population (of the planet / the country / the city, etc.) How is it made up?

Homesteads are multigenerational and often range from 15-30 people at any time. These tend to be ¼ children and young teens, ¼ young unpartnered adults, ¼ mature adults, and ¼ elderly adults. About 2/5 of people are men, 2/5 women, and 1/5 are other gendered. Towns serve as regional hubs and tend to have 200-300 full time residents. Across all of the islands, the total population of people is not more than 5 million.

6. What is the level of technology (stone age, hi tech)? Is there any forbidden technology?

Technology for producing iron is well known. Wind power is used for simple machines including sail boats. Water wheels are also used where possible. The people are able to manage some refined pyrotechnology, making stoneware pottery, lime kilns, and some frits and glazing. Wood is extremely rare and too precious for most construction, though ships and carts are an exception. Structural basketry woven from river reeds and canes is common for furniture, architecture, and small vehicles like wheelchairs and wheelbarrows. Magic eases the way to accomplishing many things that technology might otherwise. Taboo technology relates most to the consolidation of power. Advanced weaponry beyond that needed for hunting is regarded with extreme revulsion.

7. Is there any formal education? At what age do children start school? And how long?

Formal education is largely absent. Instead, those who wish and have aptitude can learn a trade via an apprenticeship, where they join the trade house at 14 or 15 to live and learn. Mastery of that trade takes 10-15 years. All children learn to read and write basic glyphs, which is necessary in a world where trade is the norm and people often switch homesteads as they form partnerships. All children are taught the hunting language as well, a silent communication with the hands. As children learn to control their magical aptitude, their elders teach them the knowledge they need.

8. Is education available to all or only certain groups? Are different groups of people educated separately?

There aren’t systemic or bias-based barriers to education for the most part, though apprenticeships are granted entirely at the discretion of the trade house elders. As a result, personalities, preferences, and actual biases can be factors. Education is not offered separately based on universal distinctions, as it is almost entirely ad-hoc.

9. Is there a written language? Or more than one? Are most people literate or illiterate?

Nearly everyone is literate to a basic level. The glyphs are used fairly universally and are generally intelligible regardless of dialect of the speaker. Rather than many languages with widely divergent roots, difference in language is mostly as dialects, which are regionally based.

10. What are schools like? What are the different types of school for?

Formal schooling is largely absent. Childhood lasts until 14 or 15 and then youth begins. Play learning is set by a child’s elders and they are also given household tasks to master and complete.

11. What languages to people speak? Or do they speak more than one language? Is there a common language? For trade?

People have their mother dialect, the trade tongue, and then their use dialect, learned if they form a partnership in a different dialectical region or complete an apprenticeship and settle in a different dialectical region.

12. How do people greet each other? What is a gesture of respect (bowing, saluting)?

The words “Well come” and “well met” are included within other phrases in greeting. In interactions, one tilts the head forward and slightly to the right, a sort of bowed head of deference.

13. What is considered a rude gesture?

Spitting at someone’s feet is disrespectful, rude, and confrontational.

14. How do they curse? Gods? Body parts?

Curses relate to the availability of ambient magic.

15. What titles / formalities are used? Are there any in use? When are they used?

Rigid titles are not used in general, as part of a power-seeking taboo. Within groups, like homesteads, trade houses, and so forth, honorifics are used relating to the person’s place within the group’s functional hierarchy.

16. How long has the system of government been in place?

The administration has existed in some form since the early rebuilding following the collapse.

17. Is there a class system? Different levels of citizenship? What is the privilege of each?

Society is fairly egalitarian, with each ‘house’, whether a trade house, homestead, ship, or mine gang selecting a ‘voice’ who is entrusted with pursuing the house’s needs and desires in administrative matters. The voice is held in high esteem, but there are no universal or expected characteristics which are requisite for nomination as voice.

18. Is there a neutral person who leaders got to for guiding? How does this person come into place?

Most matters are dealt with within a house. If there is a conflict between houses, then a third house will often be consulted, an equal rather than a ‘leader’. Guidance tends to be sought from people occupying comparable positions, and this type of consultations builds strong and lasting trust networks.

19. Is there a form of police? Is there a formal army? Who can join? At what age?

No, justice is left to mediation between parties. There is no formal army.

20. How are wrongdoers tried and punished?

Wrongdoers are judged by the trade of mediators, who provide rotating mediators to communities.

21. How does the legal court look like? Does the death penalty exist?

Mediation is done in private but records are kept for 5 years and reviewed by subsequent mediators periodically to ensure their fairness in judgement at the time, and fairness of repercussions afterward.

22. Does the government provide social assistance? In which form? Does it vary from country to country?

Struggling homesteaders are granted guidance and mentorship. New trade houses are given easy access to needed raw materials and favorable initial trade conditions, and so forth. When they are habitually struggling, then their peers may advocate for drastic action such as forced reorganization, though.

23. Is there any centralized healthcare? Free doctors? Public baths? How does the medicine look like? (Magic/herbs/modern chemical medicine)

One of principal foci of the high mages is training for healing. The high mages are supported by the community, and in exchange medical care is freely available. Everyday health, preventative care, palliative care, and reproductive care are often sought from younger or newer health magic apprentices, or within the community from folk knowledge of magic practice.

24. What is the average age at which people die? How old do people can become?

Infant mortality is very low thanks to the high level of preventative care. Once a child lives to young adulthood they can expect to live to their eighties or nineties.

25. Is there public transport? Who uses what typically? How does it look?

There are no beasts of burden and no combustion/steam engines. Carts and sail/row boats are the main long distance transport means, especially for heavy or bulky goods. Foot travel is the standard means of transport, however. Disabled people with mobility issues might use wheelchairs.

26. Are there publicly run communications systems? Postal service? Pigeons? Other ways?

Fast communication between towns is done with pigeons, but this is usually for emergencies. There are postal packets which travel with itinerant crafters as well, which are delivered to the town hearth.

27. Do public parks exist? Can anyone enjoy them?

Aside from the walled compounds of individual homesteads, land is held in common and can be visited and enjoyed by most anyone.

28. Do community centers exist? Who cares for them? What do they offer/do?

Each town has a hearth, a small compound of buildings and shelters where post is received/sent, council/trade meetings are held, judicial matters and mediation are conducted, and other meetings are held.

29. How do they get clean water? Aqueducts? Sewer systems?

Towns are universally established on (at least seasonal) riverbanks to take advantage of the water source as well as to allow for transportation for at least part of the year. Homesteads are only viable if they are able to establish wells, which are aided by water finding magic.

30. Do people trust the government? If not, why? If yes, why? Did it change recently?

People are generally extremely busy with balancing survival and subsistence. The priorities of the administration are viewed very skeptically.

31. Do the majority of people approve of or disapprove of the government?

With such small scale localized government, most people have cautious approval of its administrative decisions and capabilities. Existence for most people is full of small, community interconnections, but changes and innovation are not driving social forces.

32. Does the government spy on its enemies? Its people? Through which measures?

The high mages make use of collectors to capture and retrieve ambient magic from the herds. The collectors serve as eyes and ears for the high mages.

33. What is the monetary system? Are there multiple currencies?

The monetary system is generally based upon bartering and trade. Counters are used, the first vertebra of a mature ungulate. These are only robust enough to survive 5 or so years of use, especially if they change hands many times.

34. Is there widespread trade? What do each of the areas are known for to export? What are the most cherished export/import goods?

There is extensive trade throughout the islands, and a fair amount between them. Interaction between islands is largely driven by craft contact, with craft guilds maintaining rich communication links through teaching exchanges.

35. What are common warfare weapons? Are there any rules of war everyone follows?

Warfare is virtually unknown between people. Common tactics for hunting include game driving, slingshots, and blunt weapons. Projectiles are not used as wood is too rare and precious, though paintings on the walls of the ancient cities show such weapons. Killing other people is one of the strongest taboos, as every person is expected to contribute to the Duty.

36. What was the longest time of peace? What caused it?

Peace has been enjoyed for generations, and war is as legendary as dragons. Everyday existence is composed of day to day struggle for subsistence and the Duty.

[goobphotography-blog]

PGY3412 

Photography as Painting

“It Was and Still Is All a Blur” 

“It’s About Time”

“Electric Pyrotechnology”

[oldcrowshag]

"Many pré-industrial agrarian peoples around the world viewed pyrotechnology as a confrontation with the numinous. The notion that metals 'grow' in the womb of an earth mother, to be extracted in some sense as embryos from her womb (caves and mines) is fairly common.

"Furnaces, too, are accorded sacredness, being seen as a new womb that completes the gestation process... In many societies, smiths and smelters, along with shamans and magicians, are the controllers of fire." -- Claudia Sagona

[madphantom]

The Phantom of the Phantom of the Opera - Chapter 20

"Why did you do it?"

He glanced up. "Do what?"

"Don't play stupid, Taylor." Susanna looked him in the eye.

He sagged and suddenly looked fifty years older.

"How did you find out, Susanna?"

"He told me." She looked Taylor in the eye. "Taylor, what the fuck."

"Shit, Susanna, I never wanted to be the bad guy in this story, okay?!"

"Well, you are now." With that she left.

***

Taylor stumbled through the theatre for a while thinking about his conversation with Susanna, then suddenly made a decision and finally knocked on Saturnine's door.

"Hello?", she called.

"Nine, it's me. Tay."

"Come in."

He opened the door and stepped in. Saturnine was wearing a white dress and sitting in front of her mirror. Nobody had told her about the plan.

"I kind of miss him," she quietly said.

Taylor raised an eyebrow. "Who?"

"Kelsington." She turned around and her grey eyes hit his. "He was so sweet to me."

"Was that before or after he went on a killing rampage?"

"Tay!" She pouted.

He sat down next to her.

"Saturnine, he's a killer. Sure, he has a tragic backstory, but this is not some kind of movie where you can turn a bad guy into Prince Charming. This is life. This is an insane madman who fell in love with you."

He suddenly kneeled in front of her.

"Saturnine, we can get out of here, together." He looked at her desperately. "Find another production. Audition there. Just...get out of here and never return. This place is cursed."

"Tay?"

"Hm?"

She hesitated for a second. Then: "Did you burn Kelsington's face?"

He turned white as snow.

"Wh-what do you mean?"

"Don't play stupid." She pushed back her glasses. "You know the story. Pyrotechnology malfunctioned. Face got burned. Life imitates art. Life is now on a killing rampage and playing the Phantom tonight."

"Of course I know what happened!", he hissed. "I'm not stupid!"

"Was it you?"

He hesitated.

"Just say no, or say yes. It's so simple." Saturnine bit her lip. "I just want to know the truth."

He was still silent.

She sighed and got up. She was about to leave when he suddenly started talking.

"I didn't mean to hurt him."

Saturnine spun around. "What?!"

"I didn't mean to hurt him," Taylor repeated. "I just wanted to scare him off. I was just... jealous of him. He came here and effortlessly became a star. They all loved him. I, on the other hand, had years of hard work behind me, but I was still that dude. Nothing but a nerd. I just wanted him to leave. I didn't mean to do that to him." He felt a tear running down his cheek.

"I didn't mean to murder Kelsington and create the Phantom."

[brocklrc]

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[pyromantic-pyromaniac]

their ship name is PYROTECHNOLOGY!!!

they have a very complicated relationship...

[1tbls]

Q: if u were listening to a podcast ep about the daily life of a particular group of neanderthals, 1. what  kind of stuff would you enjoy hearing about and 2. which one of these following sites i've already researched a bit sound more interesting to u:  (each little sentence is a different research article i found)

kebara: subsistence strategies and tools types. analysis of possible ability for speech. vegetal component of diet. tortoise-eating. climate effects on community. pyrotechnology. spatial organization of campsites.

krapina: use of tooth picks as "prehistoric dentistry" :p. analysis of hearing ability. marks on teeth indicating how they may have held stuff like furs between their teeth while they scraped them clean. analysis of individuals being right vs. left handed. collection of eagle claws as possible jewelry.

[epicfireworks]

PYROTECHNOLOGY 68 SHOT 1.3G CAKE by KLASEK PYROTECHNICS by Epic Fireworks Via Flickr: PYROTECHNOLOGY 68 SHOTS - epicfireworks.com/collections/klasek-fireworks/products/p...

[fruxbeetle108]

[]EARLY METALWORKING[]°°¬ ❤️Like the post if u love it 🌐Do share it with your friends 🕵️‍♂️Do follow the page to improve your book of knowledge present in your brain🔥👍😃🧘‍♀️🧘‍♂️.... #facts💯#facts#knowyourworth#knowledgeispowerful#tbt#earlyman#metalwork#metalworking#china#bronze#interestingfacts#allfacts#postivevibes#didyouknow #generalknowledge#worldfacts#smelting#crucible#furnace#firechamber#sensible#casting#pyrotechnology#metal#metallurgy#alloy#factsonly#factsonfacts#toolmaking#earlyman#earlymanlifestyle (at Red Light Area Amsterdam) https://www.instagram.com/p/CCP_5h-Airq/?igshid=9yqm3ndm6r1f

[sports-live-stream24-blog]

2018 Money in the BankPrimitive Technology: Yam, cultivate and cook

2018 Money in the BankPrimitive Technology: Yam, cultivate and cook

Primitive Know-how: Yam, domesticate and prepare dinner Subscribe: | By no means miss a video! Allow ‘ALL’ Notifications! Extra movies, watch me construct a pure Blower & Charcol subsequent:

Comply with Primitive Know-how: Wordpress: Patreon:

Watch Extra Primitive Know-how: Newest Uploads: Pyrotechnology: Shelter: Weapons: Standa…

[oldpoet56]

Archaeologists Uncover a Lost World and Extinct Ecosystem

Archaeologists Uncover a Lost World and Extinct Ecosystem

Archaeological sites on the far southern shores of South Africa hold the world’s richest records for the behavioral and cultural origins of our species. At this location, scientists have discovered the earliest evidence for symbolic behavior, complex pyrotechnology, projectile weapons, and the first

Source: Archaeologists Uncover a Lost World and Extinct Ecosystem