Subject:
RE: 1850s what is it?
Open pan salt brine evaporation ?
It would seem to resemble a
brine boiling hearth for producing salt
I could send you attachment photo [jpg] 30k of
iron open pan acc to Agricola if you wish
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-----Original Message-----
From: A. Goode & T. Kiser [SMTP:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Thu September 02 1999 4:33
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: 1850s what is it?
Greetings:
I am excavating a domestic site in Gloucester County, Virginia, and
have a ca. 1850 feature which I hope someone on the list can identify?
It is essentially a large, shallow firebox cut into natural clay, with
a pattern of small flues down two sides.
The main section is a rectangle - apparently a firebox -- 11 feet
long and 3.5 feet wide, with the narrow ends to the east and west.
About a foot of topsoil has been removed, leaving the rectangle 0.4 of
a foot deep. At the western end the natural clay is burned bright red
over an area about 5 feet long - apparently the location of the stoke
hole and the fire. East of this the bottom of the firebox is
naturally-colored sterile clay - apparently the heat inside was not
sufficient to affect this eastern area.
The long sides have small projecting flues. On the south, these come
directly off the firebox as projections about 0.9 foot wide, extending
about 2 feet. There are six flues on the south side, about a foot
apart, and the same general depth as the firebox. On the north there
are traces of four flues of similar width, beginning at the eastern
end and stopping about 7 feet down the side. The northern flues are at
a slight obilique angle and do not connect to the firebox, with the
original connection presumably bladed away. The floor of the firebox
shows burn staining where these flues should have connected. Although
the eastern firebox does not have burn staining, the flues in that
area have been burned bright red with heat.
The first stratum throughout the feature is predictably wood ash and
the fill contains very few artifacts but includes sherds of whiteware
dating to about 1850. There is no obvious waste material, and no brick
fragments. The site does have natural bog iron, and there were several
chunks inside the firebox, but all of our features have bog iron.
Whatever was being heated left behind no obvious remains although we
still havenšt done the soil samples.
I am guessing there was a rectangular structure dug about 1.5 feet
into the ground probably just enough to allow them to create the
flues down the sides. It was stoked from the western end, possibly
accelerated with a bellows, and because of the flues, the structure
could not be approached from the southern side or most of the northern
side. It could be approached from the eastern end and at the
northeastern corner due to the lack of flues at that portion of the
northern side.
My first thought was a brick kiln, but there is no brick at all in the
feature or around it. I am now wondering if it is actually for
something like distilling or making molasses. My guess is that they
may have been using a two-stage process, the first at the western end
over the highest heat, then moving to a lower heat at the eastern end,
where it was also possible to get to the heated material and
manipulate it.
My apologies is this is something exceedingly obvious, but it is
beyond my experience, and any suggestions would be appreciated.
Thanks?
Taft Kiser
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