Important resources for Dark Age civilizations?
In a time period with medieval technology, what would be the most important local resources? I've put together a small list and broken it down into categories, but I'd like to know if there's anything major I've missed.
Sustenance:
- Fresh water
- Wild game
- Fish
Minerals (Mines)
- Coal
- Iron
- Tin
- Salt
- Copper
- Lead
- Gold, Silver, and Gems
Minerals (Quarries)
- Sandstone
- Limestone
- Marble
- Granite
Natural resources
- Wood
For what it's worth, I'm putting together a medieval world generator. Image below.
This post was sourced from https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/q/143300. It is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
1 answer
Good points all and valid.
Civilisations of the past have failed when they outgrew their local resources, usually wood in the limit as it is impractical to transport over large distances.
However you show a medieval island that is small if the features that look like mountains are mountains.
So the most important requirement is a human gene pool. There are various theories and numbers that are bandied about, but in the end you need to have enough people and enough land to feed them. A small island nation will not survive indefinitely with a fenced population.
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