Bone Village

Bone Village is a location in Final Fantasy VII. It is a famous archaeological dig site on the way to the Sleeping Forest, and eventually the City of the Ancients. The site is used for digging up a number of rare items in the game.
In Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII- Bone Village does not appear as a location, but has a shop visitable from the menu as Bone Village Commerce.
==History==
Bone Village Commerce served Zack Fair during Crisis Core.
In Final Fantasy VII, during "Parting with Aeris", Aerith traveled through the Bone Village on her way to the City of the Ancients of the Cetra, using a Lunar Harp to enter. Her plan was to use the White Materia to summon Holy and stop Meteor. Sephiroth, aware of her plan, followed her.
Cloud Strife and his party followed them both, but were stopped by the Sleeping Forest that would not allow them to pass unless they have dug out a Lunar Harp. Once they dug it out, they continued their journey.
==Geography==
The Bone Village is located to the south on Gaia's northern continent. Despite the continent mostly being covered in snow, Bone Village is surrounded by a green forest.
True to its name, the village is built around the bones, namely a large spine and ribcage and two skulls, of an enormous creature, as well as the debris from a crashed plane. It has a mostly dirt floor on its two levels, with residences being tents underneath the bones, warmed by fires. The tents are made from exhumed fossils.
==Society==
Bone Village' population appears to be comprised entirely of excavating diggers. The village is described as a village for "nature lovers", and is visited by tourists who travel all the way from Midgar to tour the digs.
Diggers dig up bombs up by using bombs to make earthquakes, and then checking the sound waves given off by the tremors. At the time of Final Fantasy VII, it was the newest system of finding buried treasure.
== Gameplay ==
Bone Village is accessible as soon as the player obtains the Tiny Bronco, but the digging minigame won't be available until after completing "Within the Temple of the Ancients". The Bone Village is a useful place to visit for the double growth armor they sell and for the few unique items that can be dug up during the minigame.
The village is mandatory very briefly during the quest "Parting with Aeris", in which the player must use the digging minigame tomust to dig up a Lunar Harp to proceed to the Forgotten City.
The excavation game is begun by talking to a person sitting at the doorway. For 100 gil a head, one can hire up to five people to dig in one place each for an item. Other than the Lunar Harp, the rare items include Vincent's weapon, the Buntline, a Megalixir, and a Mop, a weapon for Cid. After "Searching for the You of That Day" (when the player has the Highwind and Cloud returns to the party), one can also find the Key to Sector 5 to access Midgar.
The W-Item, Phoenix, and Bahamut ZERO Materia can all be dug up in Bone Village if the player has missed them earlier, but only after "Mako Cannon Rampage".
==Musical themes==
The theme that plays in Bone Village is called "Provincial Town".
==Behind the scenes==
There is dummied dialogue for Bone Village in Final Fantasy VII. Some unused dialogue suggests a person in Bone Village gives details on the puzzles in Ancient Forest and how to proceed. It is possible that, at one point in development the Ancient Forest may have been just beyond the Sleeping Forest; in the game code the fields are ordered in a way that (mostly) matches with the order the game introduces areas, and the Ancient Forest is placed right after the Sleeping Forest immediately before Corel Valley.
Another set of dialogue comes from the person on the ladder excavating the wall. This person cannot be talked to in a normal playthrough, but if the flag that allows the player to talk to her is activated in the game data, she will say: "The memory of this planet is buried layer by layer in this geological stratum. Kind of romantic, don't you think?"
A final set of unused dialogue suggests that the entrance to the Sleeping Forest may have been planned to be closed at one point, as the dialogue suggests the way in would have opened for Aeris with "a loud noise".
==Gallery==
Bone Village Monster Fossil FFVII Sketch.jpg|Concept art of a fossil.
Bone Village FFVII Concept Art.jpg|Artwork of excavation site.
==Notes==
===Annotations===
===Citations===
de:Bone Village
Category:Locations in Final Fantasy VII
Category:Minigames in Final Fantasy VII