[aruametello]

... did they mine their own minerals?

this could go into a sagan's "If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the universe."

[Novosell]

Like any self-respecting baker, I have a cabinet full of universes which produce various pies.

[HPsquared]

And ideally use your own philosophy, concepts and language when engineering everything. No English language, Latin alphabet or Arabic numerals!