Our firm has conducted extensive inventory and excavations of charcoal
pits supplying the lead-silver smelters of Eureka, Nevada, USA in the
1870s-1880s. As Dr. Geisler noted, we again encountered careful
selection of the species used for making charcoal. All was made of
pinyon pine that makes solid charcoal which resists crushing and has
high caloric output when burned. Other species present but not used
for charcoal include mountain mahogany, juniper, and quaking aspen. The
other species were also cut, but used for cordwood.
Ronald L. Reno, Ph.D.
Archaeological Research Services, Inc.
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