hunger stone
Low-water warning rock
A hunger stone is a large rock in a European riverbed, typically inscribed with dates and warnings, that becomes visible only when water levels drop dangerously low during drought.
The exposed inscriptions record past famines and serve as omens: The hunger stones in the Elbe bear messages like "If you see me, weep."
Text permanently marked
- carvingShaping by cutting away
- engravingCarving into hard surfaces
- markerSomething that signals location
- memorialThing preserving remembrance
commemoration · testimony · etching · chiseled · dated · record · epigraph · landmark
Minimum tide level
- water scarcityInsufficient freshwater for demand
- aridityAbsence of moisture
- desiccationComplete removal of moisture
- drynessAbsence of moisture
riverbed · exposed · receding · water levels · evaporation · dry spell · parched · reservoir
Prophetic indicator
- portentSign of future calamity
- harbingerOne who foreshadows
- forebodingFearful anticipation of harm
- prophecyForetelling of future events
admonition · caution · premonition · augury · herald · forewarning · reminder · signal
Insufficiency of something needed
- crop failureWhen fields yield nothing
- hardshipSuffering from difficult circumstances
- sufferingSustained experience of distress
- desperationUtter loss of hope
malnutrition · want · privation · lean times · bad harvest · grain prices · subsistence · bread riots
Height of flowing waterways
- streamflowRiver water's measured movement
- gaugeStandard of measurement
- dischargeRelease of substance outward
- sedimentParticles settling in liquid
floodplain · watershed · channel · currents · flow rate · water table · seasonal variation · measurement
inscription
Text permanently marked
- carvingShaping by cutting away
- engravingCarving into hard surfaces
- markerSomething that signals location
memorial · commemoration · testimony · etching · chiseled · dated · record · epigraph · landmark · heritage
low water
Minimum tide level
- water scarcityInsufficient freshwater for demand
- aridityAbsence of moisture
- desiccationComplete removal of moisture
dryness · riverbed · exposed · receding · water levels · evaporation · dry spell · parched · reservoir · groundwater depletion
omen
Prophetic indicator
- portentSign of future calamity
- harbingerOne who foreshadows
- forebodingFearful anticipation of harm
prophecy · admonition · caution · premonition · augury · herald · forewarning · reminder · signal · message
scarcity
Insufficiency of something needed
- crop failureWhen fields yield nothing
- hardshipSuffering from difficult circumstances
- sufferingSustained experience of distress
desperation · malnutrition · want · privation · lean times · bad harvest · grain prices · subsistence · bread riots · destitution
river levels
Height of flowing waterways
- streamflowRiver water's measured movement
- gaugeStandard of measurement
- dischargeRelease of substance outward
sediment · floodplain · watershed · channel · currents · flow rate · water table · seasonal variation · measurement · monitoring
hunger stonecornucopia
Abundance symbol, horn-shaped
horn of plenty · feast · plenty · bumper crop · surplus
hunger stonefertility symbol
Object representing reproductive power
stone, hungry, hunger, stony, starvation, hungrily, hungering, hungered