The idea is very... tempting to follow through. I'd just like to point out, there is A LOT to remove and by removing all of that, it sounds like you want to re-add that stuff, but with your specifications?
I know when I am working on my modding guide, I use presently existing stuff to reference what I'm working on. But to help you on your quest.
You could have dwarfs the only creature, I believe you'd want obsidian and maybe one other stone. Then another mineral, probably adamantine so that you don't remove that trigger effect from the game. You could get away with removing all gems, seeing as glass acts like a gem. Also... you could remove all clothing items, but you may run into problems at freezing climates, unless you disable temperature. Don't forget there are evil, normal, and good biome plants and trees. Idno how well it'd work trying to add them all to every biome. You may also want to make sure you keep a soil level, so that you can plant. The only workshop you could get rid of would be the soap makers.
That's about what I got at the moment. Shouldn't take too long to fix all that up real quick.
-edit-
just did some basic real quick and ugly testing...
it seems you want two basic stone layers or you end up with "rock" layers.
you must have the axe and pick, for digging and cutting trees.
uhmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
make sure you have accessible plants, you'll be editing plant raws for some plant.
I was able to get rid of all creatures cept dwarfs and the "special" ones. I kept two plants, pig tails and plump helmet, for food and thread. I kept adamantine and granite and a soil, I got rid of aquifer on the soil... there was some stuff I got rid of in the entity file, like clothing and reactions. I got rid of almost all reaction.