Suzanne M. Spencer-Wood wrote:

>Was this a site for creating potash by burning trees? It was a very
>big product of the frontier, used in making glass and soap.

There is considerable literature on the potash or "pearl ash" trade on the
frontier, as Dr. Spencer-Wood notes. It was a first "cash crop" for a
homesteader clearing the woods.  Here in Delaware we have archaeological
evidence of ash pits in farmyards, possibly associated with soap making.  I
suspect that with analysis, many more ash-making operations would turn up
among the population of unidentified holes.


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