Some years ago I was given a wooden 'torch' from the Franz Josef shaft
at the Hallstatt salt mine from the late Bronze/Early Iron Age. Is there
any
way to know whether it was pine, or are you aware of other trees where
the resin
might be made use of this way? Also is it reasonable to suppose that the
same
system was used in Europe at this time ?
I was most interested to hear of this process as I had thought that the
porous wood
was probably soaked in some flammable solution. It seems possible that
resin contained in the pores of the wood would provide a flame for a
longer period.
Beatrice Hopkinson
>If the formation of traumatic resin canals in your specimens was caused by
>human activity, a practice which I observed 50 years ago carried on by
>mayan speaking people in the highlands of the state of Chiapas, Mexico,
>might offer a clue for the interpretation of your material. Intact,
>growing, native pines were wounded near the base with axes, later the
>freshly exposed wood was burned. Afterward, the burned area was scraped
>clean and the underlying resin-rich wood was split out of the trunk and
>used for torches.
>
>Lawrence Kaplan
>
>
>________________________________
>
>From: The archaeobotany mailing list on behalf of Katleen Deckers
>Sent: Mon 12/11/2006 5:09 AM
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Cedrus traumatic resin canals
>
>
>
>Dear colleagues,
>
>In a lot of the Cedrus charcoal remains from different samples from a
>Bronze Age site in Syria (Qatna) I found traumatic resin canals. Does
>anybody know any good literature or information on the causes of
>traumatic resin canals, especially for Cedrus?
>
>Thank you very much in advance,
>Katleen Deckers
>
>
>
>---
>Dr. Katleen Deckers
>Naturwissenschaftliche Archäologie
>Universität Tübingen
>Rümelinstraße 23, Zi. 316
>D-72070 Tübingen
>0049.7071.29.78913
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