Jim,

Another form of building that would include "hearth-like" features would be
industrial tallow or blubber rendering sites. In coastal communities where
shore whaling existed (or seals or dolphins), mariners build sheds around vats
heated to melt fat into liquids. Inland, one might find farm industrial sites
with tallow-rendering vat features. Both the blubber-rendering and
tallow-rendering features look like oval or rounded hearth bases and usually are greasy
black from being fueled by the rendered-out scrap (blubber or fat residue). While
operating the shore whaling rendering sites (a 24-hour operation that went on
for days), the mariners lived right on the spot and left domestic refuse,
smoking pipes, and related debris. In fact, any nearby auxilliary building
(warehouse, cook house, storage shed) would have served as a flop house for the night
or a place to store their gear. Those dual industrial and domestic sites
involved in rendering (or even blacksmithing) would otherwise meet your definition
of a residential site.

Ron May
Legacy 106, Inc.