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A Russian Family Was Isolated for 40 Years, Unaware of WWII (2013)

smithsonianmag.com

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Re: A Russian Family Was Isolated for 40 Years, Unaware of WWII (2013)

#41

Post by zdkl »

rusanu wrote: post #34
T0T0R0 wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The best part about that guy is the total absence of spoken language. But, then, the source of the iron is also pretty incredible: Then I collected orange iron bacteria from the creek (iron oxide), mixed it with charcoal powder (carbon to reduce oxide to metal) and wood ash (flux to lower the melting point) and formed it into a cylindrical brick. I filled the furnace with charcoal, put the ore brick in and commenced…

Bog iron [0] production was the predominant way of smelting iron before technology advanced to the point of being able to smelt iron ores. Iron Production in the Viking Age [1] has a really nice description and pictures of the process. This kind of smelting can be done with a small bloomery [2] and the resulted tiny iron specs result is called sponge iron. I wish Dwarf Fortress would implement this chain for environs…

If you can work a forteress without both coal derivatives AND metallic ores deposits, you're a better dorf than I am.

Re: A Russian Family Was Isolated for 40 Years, Unaware of WWII (2013)

#42

Post by zdkl »

kornish wrote: post #19
jshmrsn wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the point is that if you have this guy's videos, you would be able to teach yourself how to survive and not starve to death.

I think the joke was that you'd probably starve to death before learning enough to survive from this guy's videos.

I couldn't begin to identify half the deposits he needs, let alone operate a DIY ore furnace. Stone age tools for me! And assuming you assimilate the tips about procuring food you still require some measure of cooperation from the environment in any case!

Re: A Russian Family Was Isolated for 40 Years, Unaware of WWII (2013)

#43

Post by icebraining »

pmoriarty wrote: post #22
anexprogrammer wrote: post #12

A fascinating story from 2013. There was an interesting short follow up from the Siberian Times a year after the Smithsonian piece - the last surviving member was seeking help, or maybe just tiring of isolation, in her 70s. http://www.businessinsider.com/agafya-lykova-asks-for-help-2...

"I am all alone, my years are big, my health is bad, I keep getting ill," Agafia said in the letter cited by the newspaper. "There is a lump on my right breast, and my strength is going. There is a need for a person, a helper, assuming there are kind people in the world, as the world has always had kind people." The thought of the elderly Agafia facing such a harsh winter is tough. But not all locals are sympathetic…

He probably has less sympathy since "she has been offered a winter home in a local village before (...) but has refused it."

I can understand how much it pains her to leave her home, but seems a bit much to ask some unrelated person to leave theirs to live with her.

Re: A Russian Family Was Isolated for 40 Years, Unaware of WWII (2013)

#44

Post by jjallen »

Another interesting place, though not nearly as isolated, is Lukomir, Bosnia. It was remote enough during the Yugoslavian war that the war never really made it up there (though there was little reason to probably).

You have to drive an hour and a half from Sarajevo to a small village. From there, Lukomir is another six miles up into the hills at ~2,500 meters elevation. You can now drive up there, but I strongly recommend hiking: you will feel like the IceMan walking around Europe 5,000 years ago, at least I did.

The people there live very simple lives, as you can imagine: shepherding livestock during the day in the surrounding hills, mostly sheep, for instance.

On top of this is the fact that the village is on the edge of a canyon, so has spectacular views from a cliff next to it.

If you're ever in Sarajevo you should check Lukomir out!

Re: A Russian Family Was Isolated for 40 Years, Unaware of WWII (2013)

#45

Post by unixhero »

jjallen wrote: post #44

Another interesting place, though not nearly as isolated, is Lukomir, Bosnia. It was remote enough during the Yugoslavian war that the war never really made it up there (though there was little reason to probably). You have to drive an hour and a half from Sarajevo to a small village. From there, Lukomir is another six miles up into the hills at ~2,500 meters elevation. You can now drive up there, but I strongly reco…

Cool! Thanks for the tip!

Re: A Russian Family Was Isolated for 40 Years, Unaware of WWII (2013)

#47

Post by unixhero »

aws_ls wrote: post #33

Earlier discussion on the same article on HN, few years back: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5134023 Edit: On HN, you occasionally see can't forget articles, every once in a while. This is one of those..

On "Can't forget articles"

I really wish there was a curated Hacker News archive.

I encounter so many new things which are exciting, thought provoking and amazing stuff on HN.

Or if they would extend HN with a Categories section.

Re: A Russian Family Was Isolated for 40 Years, Unaware of WWII (2013)

#48

Post by Noseshine »

rangibaby wrote: post #26
quakeguy wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is your comment necessary?

It's basically the fate of "discovered" people everywhere. Various native groups around the world would probably have beaten off conquistadors etc if it wasn't for the diseases they brought with them.

Your comment has exactly zero relevance to the topic here though.

Re: A Russian Family Was Isolated for 40 Years, Unaware of WWII (2013)

#49

Post by DominikR »

danielmorozoff wrote: post #3

If anyone is interested, the Lykovs were part of a group of 'Old Believers' (староверы) a sect of the Russian orthodox church. The primary reason many people who shared their faith fled major cities was because of Communist religious purges (an attempt to solve the problem of 'Religion is the opium of the people') https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Believers

The persecution actually began under Peter the Great. By the time Communists came into power most old believers had already fled.

The main reason for persecution was the old believers distrust of state power. They didn't accept rule by it and they didn't take any part in it. They were similar to the Amish people in the US.

Re: A Russian Family Was Isolated for 40 Years, Unaware of WWII (2013)

#50

Post by oblio »

jjallen wrote: post #44

Another interesting place, though not nearly as isolated, is Lukomir, Bosnia. It was remote enough during the Yugoslavian war that the war never really made it up there (though there was little reason to probably). You have to drive an hour and a half from Sarajevo to a small village. From there, Lukomir is another six miles up into the hills at ~2,500 meters elevation. You can now drive up there, but I strongly reco…

If you want remote experiences in Europe, check out Apuseni or Maramures in Romania. Entire remote regions with people mostly living like hundreds of years ago.

Apuseni: http://szelmob.com/viatori/images/Blog/transylvania/Apuseni-...

Maramures: http://romaniatourism.com/images/maramures/maramures-barsana...

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