Sumric Mining Industry

The Sumric Mining Industry was the trading network based on the mining of materials, the production of tools and weapons and their distribution which existed during the Sumric Golden Age.



=Origin=

The industry began around 1600AN (3,513YBP) when Proto-Sumric speakers began devoting more time to excavating materials rather than looking for them around exposed ground by rivers. Also individuals began devoting more time in creating tools in order to make superior products. Since so much time was needed to practice and create, they relied on others to provide food and other resources which was exchanged for finished and high quality tools. This transaction was the beginning of the whole industry.

=Mining= The main materials mined for are flint, limestone and obsidian. Flint is valued for making knives, arrows and striking flint for creating fire. Obsidian is also valued for its use in weapons due to how sharp it can be, since it is less common and harder to get, as well as its superior sharpness, it is valued much more than flint. Limestone is mined for its use in paint and also for creating statues due to how soft it is.

There are nine great mines in Malomanan, all found in Măgalsjo in mountainous areas. Out of those only three mines mine obsidian while the rest mine both flint and limestone. The mines are mostly open pit mines although there exist many smaller mines which tunnel into the ground, but these tend to be very small. The mines tend to be dug into the sides of mountains or into the ground. Around each major mine is settlement which is home to the miners, the people who create the tools (called gilgake in Old Sumrë), the people who distribute the finished products and people such as shamans who tend to the workers. Each mine is referred to by it's name followed by kželat ("mine" - from Proto-Sumric *kəʔżojǫt "mine", itself from the verb *əʔżojǫt- "to gut, to disembowel" - cf Old Sumrë žejoten "to gut, to disembowel, to turn inside out") while the settlement associated with it is referred to by the mine's name plus anmowt (from Proto-Sumric *ażəməwt- < *aż- "derives an abstract noun from an action that is usually performed during the day" + *əməwt- "to prepare").

Each pit is made up of many layers from which material is extracted. These layers, called benches or saswakkast in Old Sumrë (< Proto-Sumric *sasḅakʔxəsəsətə "that which has been hollowed out") are used by miners to walk around the mine at different heights to extract material from the sides. A miner extracts the material and places it in a large container called a kăăsvvagon (< Proto-Sumric *kə̄svvaʔjǫn "slipping pot") which is a wooden sleigh with an open top which is pulled by a rope using a pulley system, called annig (< Proto-Sumric *ażneʔjə "pulling on rope"). Each saswakkast has two grooves carved into the ground which the sledge legs slide along to prevent them from veering over the side of the saswakkast. Much of the terminology surrounding the pulley system is derived from a perceived similarity to rivers, as can be seen in lyryl ("groove along which a sleigh is pulled" - "river"), sioc ("the ground on either side of the lyryls" - "bare land by a river"), muhms ("area where the sleigh is taken off of the lyryls" - "rivermouth") and săănnü ("ground between two lyryls" - "river island"). When a sleigh has been loaded it is then pulled along the lyryls until it has exited the mine. There it is pulled further along the ground along raised lyryls made of stone placed in the soil until it reaches the nearby settlement where the material is piled in a location called the serpeekăonsil (< Proto-Sumric *zorəposkpų̄rsel "large crowd for sharing") which is where the materials are placed in large piles until a knapper comes along and selects which materials he wants.

The 9 main mines are:
 * 1) Silokutyri Pit (obsidian) < PS *selǫkutoże ("useful pit")
 * 2) Ksaawakrapatu Pit (flint, limestone) < PS *ksasḅakrapaty ("to scoop obsidian" - So named for it was initially belieived to have contained obsidian. A fact disproven after the mine had been set up)
 * 3) Kkölč Pit (flint, limestone, marble) < PS *kʔøldj ("devouring" - cf Old Sumrë hölčen "to devour")
 * 4) Želacė Pit (flint, limestone) < PS *ʔżojǫtəsā ("that which is gutted")
 * 5) Nosrast Pit (flint, limestone, marble) < PS *nǫsərəsətə ("that which hardens")
 * 6) Knonnjagn Pit (limestone, marble) < PS *knǫnʔjəgn ("dividing pebbles")
 * 7) Hapjankwe Pit (flint, marble) < PS *xapjaṡəkəḅę ("blundering echo")
 * 8)  Mnaswė Pit (obsidian) < PS *mənsəḅā ("broken hint")
 * 9) Spracwė Pit (obsidian) < PS *spratssəḅā ("broken intestines")

=Production= The knappers or gilgaknė' are the ones responsible for taking the material and producing finished products. When a knapper need material he goes to the serpeskăonsil and tells the workers which materials he wants and how much. The workers then sort fill a sleigh with the desired materials and they pull it along another set of lyryls to the knapper's workshop or kjaradȯnas (< Proto-Sumric *kjażatdønasḅ "knapping tent"). Only the best knappers have lyryls connecting to their kjaradȯnas's however, younger and newer knappers must use dog sleighs to get the materials. The knapper then uses it to create many items, arrowheads and knife blades being the most common, with harpoons and obsidian swords also being made.

Knappers are the most skilled worker of the indisutry as they devote their whole lives to perfecting their craft. Because of this they are considered a type of shaman and are seen as integral to the society, such so that it is taboo to kill a knapper or even kill anyone while in an anmowt and the only weapons allowed are those created and exported by knappers. This has led to anmowts being considered neutral grounds for any type of conflict, a perfect place for opposing parties to revolve their issues with no worry of fighting.

=Distribution= When a knapper has finished his product he calls for a lyrylna (< Proto-Sumric *lǫżolna "riverman") to take the products from his home where he then loads the material onto a small boat. When he has plenty of products the lyrylna then travels downriver stopping at several places to trade with several elkulona (< Proto-Sumric *ęlkuġlǫna "mountain stream man" - so named for his routes away from the river are analogous to streams) who then divide the loads among themselves into smaller portions, then each elkulona travels to various places by dog sleigh where he trades with nomads in exchange for food, fur and other resources. He then trades these with the lyrylna who then trades with the knapper who then trades with the miners. This leads to a lot of resources ending up in the hands of the knappers leading them to become the wealthiest.

=Influences in Culture and Mythology=