Eleanor,
In our excavations at a brick factory in PA, we found similar thermal
alteration to what Will Updike described at his site. In some places, the
thermal alteration went at least 2 meters deep ( we never found out where it
stopped due to safety concerns!). We did dismantle the ashbox of a kiln
furnace, and there was almost no thermal alteration at all in the soil below
the brick floor of the ashbox. The ashboxes were about 40-50 cm deep if I
remember right, and the brick floors were no more than 7.5 cm thick. Subsoil
was clay. Hope that helps.
regards,
Andrew R. Sewell, MS, RPA
Principal Investigator
Historic/Industrial Archaeology
Hardlines Design Company
4608 Indianola Avenue
Columbus, Ohio 43214
(614)-784-8733
fax: (614)-784-9336
www.hardlinesdesign.com
-----Original Message-----
From: HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of
Eleanor Breen
Sent: Wednesday, April 07, 2004 12:44 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Examples of Fire Reddening
In response to Tim's email:
The furnaces we are excavating are the sources of heat
to boil stills that produced whiskey. We have 3,
possibly 4, of these features on the interior of
George Washington's stone distillery. The whiskey
stills were heated to about 165 degrees, the boiling
point of alcohol. We are not sure how sustained the
fires were because we don't know how often whiskey was
made, but we do know the operation occurred year-round
and produced substantial amounts of whiskey.
Currently our research issue is, what is the floor
height within the distillery building? The structure
is going to be reconstructed and we are hoping that
the intensity of fire reddening around these furnaces
may hold some clues as to the height of the overlying
floor. In terms of the internal structure of the
furnace (based on period sources) we think that there
was an ash pit with the firebox above, separated by a
grate. Therefore the fire would not be directly at
the ground surface/subsoil.
Thanks for the responses, Eleanor
--- Timothy James Scarlett <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Eleanor,
> I strongly suspect that the reddening will be
> dependent upon:
> 1. The maximum temperature and average length that
> the maximum remains
> achieved. Is this a cooking fire or a furnace of
> some type? A baking oven?
>
> 2. The lining or vessel of the fireplace/stove. An
> iron stove with air
> underneath would produce a very different pattern
> from a fire directly upon
> a stone hearth.
>
> These might help people explain their thoughts.
> Sounds to me like a great
> idea for an experimental project!
>
> Cheers,
> Tim Scarlett
>
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY
> [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of
> > Eleanor Breen
> > Sent: Tuesday, April 06, 2004 3:06 PM
> > To: [log in to unmask]
> > Subject: Examples of Fire Reddening
> >
> >
> > Hello Histarchers: I have a question about
> > heat-altered or fire-reddening of subsoil. At a
> site
> > where the floor level is know, in your experience,
> > what is the distance between heat source (hearth,
> > etc.) and the discolored soil? In other words,
> how
> > far above grade can the heat source/floor level be
> and
> > still have fire reddening of the soil? Does the
> > presence of brick lining the heat source transmit
> heat
> > better, thereby causing more extensive soil
> reddening?
> > We are interested in both the depth and horizontal
> > extent of the heat alteration. We are trying to
> > figure out if distance between floor surface and
> > heat-altered subsoil can be inferred by the extent
> of
> > soil reddening.
> >
> > Thanks, Eleanor Breen
> >
> > Assistant Archaeologist
> > Historic Mount Vernon
> >
> >
> > __________________________________
> > Do you Yahoo!?
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> >
>
>
*******************************************************************
> Timothy James Scarlett
> Assistant Professor of Archaeology
> Program in Industrial History and Archaeology
> Department of Social Sciences
> Michigan Technological University
> 1400 Townsend Drive
> Houghton, Michigan 49931-1295 USA
> Tel (906) 487-2359 Fax (906) 487-2468 Internet
> [log in to unmask]
> MTU Website: http://www.industrialarchaeology.net
> SHA Website: http://www.sha.org SIA Website:
> http://www.sia-web.org
>
*******************************************************************
> Irony: A Scotsman cloning a sheep.
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