The Tech Tree from Civilization is just not detailed enough
June 8, 2014 5:56 AM
I'm looking for a technology tree for the early early history of human technology. I want one that is detailed but it doesn't need to go any further than the Classical age. Do you know of any resources on-line or have any book recommendations that would give me a good part of what I need?
To give you the idea of the detail I am looking for, the branch for weaving might go:
Nest building > straw weaving > animal fibre weaving...
And would have a branch coming in from clay work> beads> loom-weights...
And perhaps another branch coming in from bone-working that leads to >bone heddle...
I'm hoping for something that includes all the basic known skills and crafts of pre-history and early history.
The resources I have been finding don't list things in chronological order and leave out the necessary accessory crafts such as charcoal burning and kiln construction when they give the tree for metal working, which inevitably runs copper> bronze> iron without telling me where tin-working, lead-working, gold-working and silver-working took place although they must have been current to one of those basic three.
I'm good with conjecture or fantasy if definitive historical tech trees are not available, as I know that there is no one provable tech tree, what with the current understanding that dog domestication has sprung up in multiple times and multiple cultures, sometimes being discontinued and that agriculture has sprung up independently multiple times based on the vegetation of the area - sweet potato agriculture in Asia having not sprung from Emmer and Einkorn wheat agriculture in the Near East.
I'll happily take input from anyone who wants to contribute a branch or a twig or a suggestion, if you don't know of any ready-made resources for me.
To give you the idea of the detail I am looking for, the branch for weaving might go:
Nest building > straw weaving > animal fibre weaving...
And would have a branch coming in from clay work> beads> loom-weights...
And perhaps another branch coming in from bone-working that leads to >bone heddle...
I'm hoping for something that includes all the basic known skills and crafts of pre-history and early history.
The resources I have been finding don't list things in chronological order and leave out the necessary accessory crafts such as charcoal burning and kiln construction when they give the tree for metal working, which inevitably runs copper> bronze> iron without telling me where tin-working, lead-working, gold-working and silver-working took place although they must have been current to one of those basic three.
I'm good with conjecture or fantasy if definitive historical tech trees are not available, as I know that there is no one provable tech tree, what with the current understanding that dog domestication has sprung up in multiple times and multiple cultures, sometimes being discontinued and that agriculture has sprung up independently multiple times based on the vegetation of the area - sweet potato agriculture in Asia having not sprung from Emmer and Einkorn wheat agriculture in the Near East.
I'll happily take input from anyone who wants to contribute a branch or a twig or a suggestion, if you don't know of any ready-made resources for me.
The word that may help you is "timeline" or "timelines." One example of a book with this theme: Smithsonian Timelines of the Ancient World.
posted by gudrun at 12:11 PM on June 8, 2014
posted by gudrun at 12:11 PM on June 8, 2014
there is actually a mod for civ iv that starts with cavemen - let me see if I can find it.
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Ah, yes: Caveman 2 Cosmos.. The tech tree is here.
posted by Sebmojo at 4:51 PM on June 8, 2014
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Ah, yes: Caveman 2 Cosmos.. The tech tree is here.
posted by Sebmojo at 4:51 PM on June 8, 2014
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posted by kimota at 11:26 AM on June 8, 2014