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[Deimos56]

So, according to the dev logs, animals in worldgen who get slaughtered seem to get all of their bones turned into vast swathes of crafts.

Since this is likely to make bone crafts something approaching worthless, I figured I'd make the suggestion of having them convert a significant percentage of bones into other bone based materials like (terribad) armor, ammunition, and for civilizations that do that sort of thing (None yet I think), bone meal. That way human cities aren't just completely flooding the market with pig bone bracelets or something like that.

Edit: On further inspection, he was talking about item distribution, so maybe this post is actually pointless.

[knutor]

this post is actually pointless.

Don't worry bout that.  Your not the last to make a pointless post or the first.  Its fun having company.     I don't mind bone going into crafts, not sure what vast swathes are tho.  If they are golems, made of bone, I'm all for them.  I would think some civilizations would find it awful heathen of us to trade in butchered body parts.  Much like elves dislike the tree trade.

Sincerely,
Knutor

[Michael]

and for civilizations that do that sort of thing (None yet I think), bone meal.

While Dwarf Fortress has so far only used bonemeal as a shocking decoration in monster lairs, it isn't taboo in real life.  The shock value only comes if it is made from the bones of sentient organisms.

It's a useful component of fertilizer -- so I'd imagine most surplus bone should be ground up and spread on the fields.

Also, at one time it was fed to animals, even people, as a mineral supplement, but they had to stop that because of the risk of spreading prion diseases.

[Zoomulator]

I'd love having bone cages!
Although it is moddable I guess...

[Megaman_zx]

since humans do most of the farming and hunting in world gen i think they should be able to make bonemeal and use it as fertilizer, or feed for all the animals that will be loitering around towns.

[Vince7403]

Bonemeal fertilizer is the most reasonable solution, and is still practiced widely. You can mix crushed bones in animal feed, but it's no longer done in most places today because it's known to spread mad cow and the equivalent diseases of other domesticated beasts. You can also use it for calcium/phosphorus nutrition supplementation of people, but it's not recommended for the same reason. Still, it's something that was practiced in the bad old days, so it wouldn't be unreasonable.

What all this means is that instead of bones being assigned as a craft material after butchering, they would have to first go into some routine that perhaps checks the demand for bone crafts vs bone meal (for fertilizer or food). Then the butcher would do one of these things: a) if bonemeal demand is higher than bone crafts demand, and the butcher has bone-grinding tools, grind bones and sell bonemeal, b) if bonemeal demand is higher but butcher does not have bone-grinding tools, sell bones to someone who does, c) sell bones to bone-crafters, d) have tantrum due to monotonous butchering, take bones and club people with them

[GreatWyrmGold]

What was bone used for IRL, aside from fertilizer and crafts?
Uh...Actually, I don't know. But in DF, it seems that bones could be bought by the wagonload by necromancers and various types of cults to create skeletons or fuel magical rituals or something, and normal people might buy them for the cheap crafting material. In addition to the RL uses.

[zwei]

Bone tools:

 * Needles ( http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/highlight_objects/pe_prb/b/bone_needle.aspx )
 * Knives
 * Pins ( http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/highlight_objects/pe_mla/b/bone_pin.aspx )
 * Fishhooks ( http://www.uiowa.edu/~osa/learn/ancient/bone.htm )

Clothing decorations:

 * Buttons
 * Brooches

Aditional crafts:

 * Hair Comb

[GreatWyrmGold]

Hm, add some bone weapons and maybe new tools...and I remember reading that at certain settlements including the Norse Greenland settlements, starving people broke open bones to ingest (is it eat or drink?) the marrow because they were starving and needed something to eat, so maybe bones could be a very-last-ditch starvation food source?

[Deimos56]

Hm, add some bone weapons and maybe new tools...and I remember reading that at certain settlements including the Norse Greenland settlements, starving people broke open bones to ingest (is it eat or drink?) the marrow because they were starving and needed something to eat, so maybe bones could be a very-last-ditch starvation food source?

Probably would have to be relatively fresh bones... Which would mean keeping track of the age of stuff.

Actually, that could tie in to brewing/cheese making  becoming more complicated if they ever do so...

[GreatWyrmGold]

If I'm starving and all I had to eat were some bones, I'd eat the marrow, then the bones if needed. (Of course, the bones would probably be from my pet dog, who would have been previously eaten, so they wouldn't be that ol...I'm stopping that train of thought about a sentence too late.)

[knutor]

Bone uses in fantasy... are what I know  I dunno about RL uses.

In one fantasy book, there was a cannibalistic group that inducted its young recruits into the army by eating a mysterious meat.  This meat was as it turns out, slain trespassers on the groups turf. 

Well to make a long story short, when a warrior-father died his forearms were removed, elbow to wrist, and given to the eldest son.  A prize, or heirloom, of the mans accomplishments.  Tradition had it, the boy honed down the fathers forearm, to a piercing rapier dagger point.  And then spring loaded it under his own forearm, in a wristband sorta contraption.  It was a last strike weapon.  Legend had it, if the father's acts in life were noble, that hidden rapier would protect the son from certain death if captured or ambushed. 

Very interesting idea, I thought.  It was from the Seeker, trilogy of books, I believe.  Terry Goodkind, I believe. 

Incidently, grout is my favorite use of bone.  Any above ground structure, should require mortar.  Grout is a mortar made from bone, I think, like in the movie 300.

Sincerely,
Knutor

[coolio678]

Bone uses in fantasy... are what I know  I dunno about RL uses.

In one fantasy book, there was a cannibalistic group that inducted its young recruits into the army by eating a mysterious meat.  This meat was as it turns out, slain trespassers on the groups turf. 

Well to make a long story short, when a warrior-father died his forearms were removed, elbow to wrist, and given to the eldest son.  A prize, or heirloom, of the mans accomplishments.  Tradition had it, the boy honed down the fathers forearm, to a piercing rapier dagger point.  And then spring loaded it under his own forearm, in a wristband sorta contraption.  It was a last strike weapon.  Legend had it, if the father's acts in life were noble, that hidden rapier would protect the son from certain death if captured or ambushed. 

Very interesting idea, I thought.  It was from the Seeker, trilogy of books, I believe.  Terry Goodkind, I believe. 

Incidently, grout is my favorite use of bone.  Any above ground structure, should require mortar.  Grout is a mortar made from bone, I think, like in the movie 300.

Sincerely,
Knutor

I now want to read that book.

[Neowulf]

Soup stock.
Gelatin (derived from collagen in skin and bones).

Marrow is very nutritious and chefs do crack open bones to cook with the marrow itself.

Bake a bone hot enough and you have Bone Black, a black pigment for oil paints.