Monday, July 23, 2012

Cow Pies

Cow pie castle walls
Research for my Hattusa book is going interesting places. Like cow pie castles.

"Bleh!" You say.

In the winter, when trees are few and far between, cow pies do the trick. They're a good fuel source for heating or for a cooking fire.

July is the time when Anatolian peasants are out molding the dung into squares, and creating the cow pie reserves that will get them through the winter. They stack them in seemingly decorative patterns, but the reason for the design is simple: cow pies need to dry. Different villages have different ways of stacking. Some make round towers, others create walls.

Just another neat detail I hope to incorporate in my book, when I get around to writing it.

In the meantime, I'm off to revise the Nemrut sci-fi some more.

5 comments:

Old Kitty said...

Hooorah for cow pies!! Sustainable source of energy and plenty of it!!

All the best with your re-writes!! Take care
x

Sarah said...

I kind of wish I hadn't been eating breakfast when I read this post, but, er ... cool! So glad I know this now! ;)

KatOwens: Insect Collector said...

Love it! I can't wait to read all about it in your book. They're beautiful.

Matthew MacNish said...

I wonder how bad it smells when you burn it.

LTM said...

LOL! OMG--cow pies. You are so funny, Carolyn! *snort*

I've actually heard of people using cow pies for fuel. And you know on the new Dallas, Christopher is experimenting w/using methane gas for fuel... BAH!!! <3

Now what's this about a new book???

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