Dear Jan,
I was interested in your comment that moss acted as a filtrate and
for caulking which is quite likely in the following example:
A 30 ft. deep pit was partially excavated at Droitwich, an ancient
saltmaking town in England. The pit was man-made (installed in 1224 to
replace an earlier pit evidenced from Anglo Saxon times) and held the
brine from saline springs that erupted at the base of the pit. The
excavator pointed out to me that moss was growing between the timbers and
seemed to think it was unusual.
Since the pit was buried it is possible that the moss grew after the pit
was excavated and exposed to the air.
It can be noted that the brine here is naturally fully saturated at
26.259% salinity. Saltmaking here is dated from the early Iron Age c.
750 B.C. and adjacent to the pit was Roman timberwork.
The excavation took place in 1989 and the excavator has long gone. I
don't know if this helps as I don't know the species of moss, but I
thought I'd mention it as there might be a halophylic type moss that is
salt tolerant?
Bea
On 4/14/04 3:23 AM BASTIAENS JAN writes:
>Dear all,
>
>
>In the city of Oudenburg, at the edge of the Belgian coastal plain, part
>of a Roman castellum is currently being excavated. A 4th century well
>with a double formwork is one of the highlights. In between the inner
>and outer formwork layers of moss are applied in horizontal mats. The
>reason for this is at first sight to be sought in the combination of
>both caulking and filtration, though this is still open to
>interpretation. A first evaluation, carried out by the National Botanic
>Garden of Belgium, revealed about 10 moss species.
>
>Do you know other wells, Roman or not, in which mosses were applied in
>the construction? Do you know other relevant moss articles?
>
>
>Greetings,
>
>
>Jan Bastiaens
>
>Flemish Heritage Institute
>Phoenix-gebouw, Koning Albert II-laan 19 bus 5
>B-1210 Brussels
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