Anthracology of charcoal kilns in the forest of Chailluz (France) as a tool to understand Franche-Comte forestry from the mid-15th to the early 20th century AD

Formation, Classification, and Properties of Soils at Two Relict Charcoal Hearth Sites in Brandenburg, Germany

“…Thus, the soil color and the magnetic susceptibility measurements demonstrate that the transfer of heat into the mineral soil below the hearth during the charring process causes thermally induced recrystallization of iron (hydr-)oxides. Dupin et al (2017) reported an χ v between 600 and 1,100 10 −6 for the RCH substrate from France; hence, the substrates of our studied RCHs have a similar range for their χ v (χ v : 720-1,702 10 −6 and χ mass : 461-1,074 10 −9 m 3 kg −1 , Tables 1, 3). Dupin et al (2017) concluded that charcoal burning caused a doubling of χ v over that observed in the non-fire affected substrate.…”

“…Dupin et al (2017) reported an χ v between 600 and 1,100 10 −6 for the RCH substrate from France; hence, the substrates of our studied RCHs have a similar range for their χ v (χ v : 720-1,702 10 −6 and χ mass : 461-1,074 10 −9 m 3 kg −1 , Tables 1, 3). Dupin et al (2017) concluded that charcoal burning caused a doubling of χ v over that observed in the non-fire affected substrate. However, the non-fire affected substrate in their study has a much higher χ v (350-550 10 −6 ), whereas the non-fire affected substrate at our sites has a lower χ v (<100-550 10 −6 ).…”

“…From prehistoric times until the nineteenth century, the charring of wood in charcoal hearths was the base for metallurgic processes in Europe (Groenewoudt, 2007;Pèlachs et al, 2009). The demand for charcoal for metal production peaked from the thirteenth to nineteenth centuries in Europe (Pèlachs et al, 2009;Deforce et al, 2013;Knapp et al, 2015;Carrari et al, 2017;Criscuoli et al, 2017;Dupin et al, 2017;Krebs et al, 2017;Schmidt and Levy, 2017) and in the middle of the nineteenth century in North America (Mikan and Abrams, 1995;Straka, 2014;Raab T. et al, 2017). The production and use of wood charcoal ceased with the growing use of coal in North America and Europe in the mid-nineteenth century (Pasmore, 1964;Raab et al, 2015;Raab T. et al, 2017).…”

Environmental effects of historical charcoal burning associated with water-powered ferrous metallurgy (Mała Panew basin, southern Poland)

“…Hard charcoal was more valuable and more desirable because it permitted a higher temperature to be reached in the blast furnace (Surmiński 2002). It is known that in the Middle Ages, in France and Germany, hornbeam, oak, and beech wood were burnt in charcoal hearths (Schmidt et al 2016, Dupin et al 2017. In some areas, the production of charcoal even caused a complete transformation of natural forest communities into cultivated forests with altered species composition (Reichmuth 1986, Knapp et al 2015.…”

“…Analysis of charcoal remains enables one to identify the tree species used for charcoal burning in order to study the exploitation of the forest and the impact of charcoal production on soil properties (e.g. Nelle 2003, Deforce et al 2013, Knapp et al 2015, Dupin et al 2017, Hazell et al 2017, Ludemann et al 2017, Py-Saragaglia et al 2017. Research on charcoal hearth remains and historical charcoal burning has also been carried out in Poland (Rutkiewicz et al 2019).…”