Making iron from sand [video]
I love this channel and have been watching it for years, but one note of caution: this isn&#x27;t the same type of primitive technology our ancestors used tens to hundreds of thousands of years ago. I would best describe it as &quot;technology from scratch using all available modern knowledge&quot;.<p>In a way it&#x27;s even more interesting than trying to do primitive technology as it actually was. In this example, he&#x27;s using modern knowledge of ore smelting and doing it in a way with the fewest tools&#x2F;processes possible. Our ancestors (250,000 to ~3000 years go) <i>could</i> have done this, but they didn&#x27;t. Metallurgy did not appear until a few thousand years ago and iron working working even later than bronze and other types of metal working. In fact, he&#x27;s not even trying <i>that</i> hard, as he doesn&#x27;t use the stream to build a waterwheel and automate many of his processes (though he did build a water hammer once).<p>Really makes you think what&#x27;s perfectly possible physically today, but we lack the knowledge to actually do it.