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Large amounts of lime were needed to make mortar for bricklaying.Shell gangs carried out the backbreaking task of hauling and crushing loads of shells, which were then burnt in pits or kilns for several days to make lime. Water, sand and animal hair were then mixed in to make mortar. Sometimes human hair was mixed into shell mortar when animal hair was scarce. In 1832 a Sydney newspaper reported that 400 convicts on Norfolk Island had been shorn for this purpose.