h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Day 9

It is a cold but relatively clear morning. Fortunately there is not a lot of wind, just enough to get rid of the worst fumes.

Pato and Bora take a short walk to the other side of the mountain saddle. They see a large white slope going down, not as steep as the one they came up yesterday. There is nothing else to be seen on the slope but snow and ice, so they turn around to tidy their camp, now that they have rested.

Bora lays out her belongings on one of her woollen plaids. She picks up the flat stone retrieved from the hot pool and the sharp green stone from the river and starts scratching one with the other. This has two advantages. She can start her own history stone and practice her drawing before getting to the official stone.

Pato checks the food supplies, offers some dried fruit to the now busy Bora and goes on with maintenance on his boots. Some of the sharp stones can move now, so through some gentle tapping with the back of his smaller axe he forms everything back into shape.

Because Bora will still be occupied for quite some time, Pato goes to investigate one of the nearer black traces flowing down the Eastern summit. The black mass radiates heat when he comes closer. There is no ice underneath but only bare rock. He sees orange veins in some places. Carefully, he pokes the handle end of his larger axe into one of the orange veins, shielding his face and feeling the hairs on the back of his hand scorching. It yields enough to let in the wooden shaft. To Pato’s horror, the handle of his axe catches flame instantly, so he pulls back quickly and sticks the handle in the nearest snowdrift. The hissing goes on for quite some time. Back at the tent Pato investigates the condition of his axe handle. Surprisingly, the affected bit appears to be covered in a thin layer of rock. After some wriggling it comes loose. Looking at the result, he takes a water skin and pours some water in his creation. Taking a sip he hums in a satisfied matter. Because nothing seems to be happening, Pato goes and repeats the exercise until he has a nice set. He admires the blue and green sheen he sees when holding the stone work pieces to the light.

Well past midday, our still busy couple is caught by surprise by something cresting the snowy Southern slope into the saddle. It is a large sled, pushed and pulled by several men and women.

Bora gets up quickly to greet them in their own tongue. She hopes she gets it right…

Pato recognises some of the faces coming up the mountain. The men, that is. He cranes his neck to get a better look at the women. Most stay hidden inside the cowl of their thick fur coats.

The newcomers start unpack the sled and set up camp beside the tents of Bora and Pato. Their single tent is much larger than what Pato and Bora carried up the mountain. Large poles are set up to form the frame for a conical tent covered mostly in hides.

As darkness falls, Pato and Bora are invited in. A small fire has been laid at the centre, giving off a nice, but rather smoky atmosphere.

When one of the women produces a skin with something that is definitely not water, Pato goes and gets his newly created volcanic mugs to pour it in. The mugs give an interesting and most satisfying green frothing effect to the drink, which is shared among the men.

After a few rounds of this, Bora thinks it is the right time to discuss important matters for the day to come, women only.

I want a set of lava glasses!

I was going to say:"Don't try this at home", but I guess the amount of people with an active volcano at home is so low that there is no point.

Good story!

Did people actually make lava cups?

" Bora thinks it is the right time to discuss important matters for the day to come, women only."

Prehistoric feminists?

Lava cups: Probably not, but is too long ago to be sure.
Feminism: No written accounts, so it is possible.

There is a suspicion among some theorists that matriarchy was a lot more common in the past.

I suppose there were times when the men went off to hunt and the women stayed behind to look after the children, and gather whatever food was available locally, from root vegetables to honey. The women must have had a responsible role.

There's a lot of information available about hunter-gatherer and stone-age cultures, if anybody's interested. Especially among North Americans, who after all taught European settlers quite a lot about self-government - some of which we seem not to have understood yet.

Now, gender roles and governance varied a LOT between nations here. But you might enjoy these purely personal reflections from an Ojibwa elder, who admits she's no anthropologist, but shares some interesting memories.

http://www.native-art-in-canada.com/nativewomen.html

Then there's "The Red tent," by Anita Diamant. It retells the story of jacob and his many wives and children. How much was based on fact? It seems that the women had a special place for their womenly activities. Men were not welcome there.