Quote:
Originally Posted by raymo
Regarding workbenches and stools; they require something that is quite scarce in many countries in that part of the world, trees large enough to
make them. Back in the distant past, what trees and bushes there were
were probably used as fuel for their fires. If you researched the subject, you
might find that the peoples from the forested areas of said countries do have
workbenches and stools. Just surmising, no actual knowledge of the subject.
raymo
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Hi Raymo,
Most of the videos posted thus far are from Pakistan. I have travelled
extensively through there and it is true that it is a mostly treeless part of
the world.
There are large deserts in the south-east. Treeless, inhospitable expanses
in the south-west. And the northern mountainous areas of the Karakorums,
which are the western extension of the Himalayas, are also treeless.
Most of these geographical characteristics pre-date civilisation there.
Deforestation, in particular in the foothills, would have removed most of the rest.
And advanced civilisation there goes a long way back.
I have visited the excavated well preserved remains of the Indus
civilisation city of Mohenjo-daro which dates back to 2500 BCE.
They were sophisticated. Waste water was taken from houses by
covered drains. There were public baths. One thing that amazed me
was garbage disposal. Whereas here you have to go to all the trouble
of wheeling out wheely bins, there they had garbage chutes in the
kitchen that went outside to drop the waste into probably a wicker
basket that sat in the recess of the outside wall where the garbage
man then came and picked it up. How good would that be
In the on-site museum there is a collection of amazing artefacts.
I remember marvelling over these incredible clay playing die.
Four and a half thousand years old and instantly recognisable, with
just small differences like the layout of the "3" and which numbers were
on opposing sides to each other :-
https://www.alamy.com/oldest-clay-an...370943831.html
What I suspect is that since this particular part of the world likely
always had such few trees, sitting on one's haunches has evolved
there into the natural resting position. Though it is common throughout
many parts of the world, I refer to it as the Pakistani squat.
You see it everywhere you go. There will be dudes squatting beside
the road, in front of shops, beside a tractor in a field - everywhere.
Those baggy trousers (shalwar) also make it easier to squat.
Whereas most of us in the west when we go to stand up after squatting
for an extended period have protesting knees, it is such a common
resting stance in Pakistan that I suspect most don't suffer it.
The average income is very low so possessions like tables and
chairs are out of reach of many. If you are invited to eat in some
households you sit cross-legged on mats in front of a shared dish
eating with only your right hand as is the custom.
In public eating places though, tables and chairs are the norm.
Watching artisans fashioning things like gun stocks it was not uncommon
to see them hold the work piece at times between their bare feet.
I suspect that for many there, since tables and chairs have not been
a major part of the culture for thousands of years, they have grown
comfortable either squatting or sitting on the ground.
Traces of the British Raj are everywhere. To go from the extreme of
chairless, I found myself in a solid beautifully carved chair in the First
Class Waiting Room for Gentleman at Lahore railway station. The chair
had a place where British officers could park their swagger sticks.