hypocaust Stephen P. Austin (CESWF-EV-EC) > -----Original Message----- > From: A. Goode & T. Kiser [SMTP:[log in to unmask]] > Sent: Saturday, September 04, 1999 11:23 PM > To: [log in to unmask] > Subject: Mid-19th c. What is it? > > Greetings: > > I am excavating a domestic site in Gloucester County, Virginia, and > have a ca. 1830-1870 feature which I hope someone on the list can > identify. It is essentially a large, shallow firebox cut into natural > clay, with a pattern of small flues down two sides. > > The main section is a rectangle, apparently a firebox, 11 feet > long and 3.5 feet wide, with the narrow ends to the east and west. > About a foot of topsoil has been removed, leaving the rectangle 0.4 of > a foot deep. At the western end the natural clay is burned bright red > over an area about 5 feet long, apparently the location of the stoke > hole and the fire. East of this the bottom of the firebox is > naturally-colored sterile clay, apparently the heat inside was not > sufficient to affect this eastern area. > > The long sides have small projecting flues. On the south, these come > directly off the firebox as projections about 0.9 foot wide, extending > about 2 feet. There are six flues down the south side, about a foot > apart, and the same general depth as the firebox. On the north there > are traces of four flues of similar width, beginning at the eastern > end and stopping about 7 feet down the side. The northern flues are at > a slight obilique angle and do not connect to the firebox, with the > original connection presumably bladed away. The floor of the firebox > shows burn staining where these flues should have connected. Although > the eastern firebox does not have burn staining, the flues in that > area have been burned bright red with heat. > > The first stratum throughout the feature is predictably wood ash and > the fill contains very few artifacts but includes sherds of > gothic-revival whiteware. There is no obvious waste material, and no > brick fragments. The site does have natural bog iron, and there were > several chunks inside the firebox, but all of our features have bog > iron. Whatever was being heated left behind no obvious remains, and we > haven't sent off the soil samples yet. > > I am guessing there was a rectangular structure dug about 1.5 feet > into the ground, probably just enough to allow them to create the > flues down the sides. It was stoked from the western end, possibly > accelerated with a bellows, and because of the flues, the structure > could not be approached from the southern side or most of the northern > side. It could be approached from the eastern end and at the > northeastern corner, due to the lack of flues at that portion of the > northern side. > > My first thought was a brick kiln, but there is no brick at all in the > feature or around it. I am now wondering if it is actually for > something like distilling or making molasses. My guess is that they > may have been using a two-stage process, the first at the western end > over the highest heat, then moving to a lower heat at the eastern end, > where it was also possible to get to the heated material and > manipulate it. > > My apologies is this is something exceedingly obvious -- I'm still in > the field and haven't had a chance to go to the library. Any > suggestions and possible refs would be appreciated. > > Thanks. > > Taft Kiser