As would I.
Jeffrey L. Boyer, RPA
Project Director
Office of Archaeological Studies, Museum of New Mexico
mail: P.O. Box 2087, Santa Fe, New Mexico 87504
physical: 407 Galisteo Street, Suite B-100, Santa Fe, New Mexico 87501
tel: 505.827.6387 fax: 505.827.3904
e-mail: [log in to unmask]
"It might look a bit messy now, but just you come back in 500 years time." --Terry Pratchett
________________________________
From: HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY on behalf of Marty Pickands
Sent: Tue 5/29/2007 9:40 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: ash in plaster
Ron-
I assume Gurke was talking about ash rather than ashes, that is the white, purely mineralized remains of burnt organic material. I assume there is some chemical effect from firing bricks with this stuff in the clay, but I have no idea how that would work. I do know that fireclay used as mortar for the bricks in a smith's forge is supposed to have ash mixed in- perhaps for the same reason. If anyone out there knows about the chemistry involved, I'd love to hear an explanation.
Marty Pickands
New York State Museum
>>> Ron May <[log in to unmask]> 5/27/2007 9:03 PM >>>
In a message dated 5/17/2007 9:49:43 A.M. Pacific Daylight Time,
[log in to unmask] writes:
What kind of ash- coal ash or wood ash? Gurke, in his book Bricks and
Brickmaking (U. of Idaho Press 1987), mentions that ash is sometimes
mixed with clay to retard shrinkage and cracking while the bricks are
drying
I cannot imagine organics surviving kiln firing of bricks. I have studied
Mexican kilns in Baja California that created sandy bricks that trapped some
organics in the core because oxygen hit the surfaces after the fuel spent out,
but I do not recall seeing ash or plant remains in the black carbon streak.
Higher fired kilns with oxidizing temperatures would strip all organics from
the ceramics. What purpose would ash serve under these circumstances?
Ron May
Legacy 106, Inc.
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