Dear Alexa,
Re your note on "salt spring exploitation" in the French Jura. I
visited that
site as I specialize in research on salt springs and salt exploitation.
I didn't understand your reference to crystallizing salt by "watering the
hearth with salt water..which creates a "cold". Perhaps you are
describing the dousing of the hearth fire (to put it out) ?
If saltwater was poured on burning wood all you would get would be
ash mixed with salt. That might work for soap-making but not for salt
used for consumption and preservation.
I apologize that I am unable to communicate in French. But perhaps you
could describe your experiment in more detail. It sounds interesting.
Bea Hopkinson
On 9/8/04 2:59 AM Dr. Alexa Dufraisse writes:
>Hello everybody,
>I am a new member of the archaeobotany list. My name is Alexa Dufraisse, I am
>french (so excuse for my english) and my work is focussed on charcoal
>analysis
>in waterlogged sites, especially located in the circum-alpine area in Europe.
>At the moment, I am working in Basel (postdoc) at the lakes of Zürich and
>Constance.
>
>I just have read your discussions about the glassy charcoal. There is another
>hypothesis about the vitrification of charcoal : a quick cold growing for
>example by water. Is there someone which had worked on this problem? I have
>also worked on salt spring exploitation in the french Jura. I did with the
>collaboration of archaeologists few experimentations. They showed that in
>order to crystallize salt, we have to water the hearth with salt water which
>creates
>a cold. But, among the experimental and archaeological charcoals, I did not
>observed more glassy charcoal....
>
>I have another question : what is in English the difference between wet
>wood and
>green wood? Is it a problem of the percentage of the humidity or between
>living
>trees and "just cut trees" or other....?
>
>Best regards
>Alexa Dufraisse
>--
>Alexa Dufraisse
>Universität Basel
>IPNA, Institut für Prähistorische und Naturwissenschaftliche Archäologie
>Spalenring 145
>CH-4055 Basel
>Tel +41 61 201 02 17
>
>
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