Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Charcoal Production Sites
Charcoal Production Sites
production
Multi-feature hearths
? 20
Bowl hearths CO
LU
Undefined hearths 15
Pits 0)
10
E
Charcoal was the smelting fuel of the
5
Bronze Age and Iron Age and was
continually used in Europe for over 5,000 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1.0
years, with the peak period of production
in the seventeenth and
Ratio of the Short Axis to the Long Axis
occurring eighteenth
centuries (Kelly 1996). Capable of achieving
temperatures in excess of 1,000?C, charcoal Relative Size of Pit Kilns and Platform Kilns
was essential in metal-working, and indeed
continues to be used in the metal and other
industries today.
Charcoal is the carbon-rich substance
Charcoal kilns
In previous centuries, and well into the
twentieth century, two main forms of earth
carefully stacked with wood and covered wood stack was built around a central pole, form a level surface, on which a stable
with earth to exclude air. this was removed and red-hot charcoal, with mound kiln could be made and effectively
As the demand for metal products grew, a few dry sticks, down the central Platform hearths occur on
dropped managed. slopes
the more efficient mound kiln became a flue. When the stack was alight, the flue was
familiar feature of many woodlands in sealed and the fireallowed to spread through
Europe (Kelly 1996). The traditionalmethod the stack. The charring process had to be very From top: Ratios of the short axis to the
of building the kiln involved stacking carefully controlled by the charcoal-burners. long axis of charcoal platforms in
lengths of wood on end and facing inwards To ensure their stability during the Glendalough (based on 72 sites recorded in
Brendan Riordan).
3
equal lengthand breadth. overall conclusions are outlined below. from c. AD 1680-1740.
Platform hearths are carefully engineered The charcoal production pits generally Three of the platforms identifiedby Healy
structures. The longer axis of an ovoid-shaped consisted of simple earth-cut features with (1972) have recentlybeen partly excavated by
platform is generally aligned along the charcoal deposits and evidence of in situ Conor McDermott and Graeme Warren (pers.
contours of a hillside. As noted by Ardon and burning. They occurred in circular, oval and comm.). The platforms, which are located in
Rotherham (1999), on steep slopes the rectangular forms and with roughly an the townland of are cut into the
Lugduff,
construction of an oval platform may have equal proportion of each type. The pits hillside and form part of a dense scatter of
limited the amount of excavation necessary, ranged from under lm to up to 4m in such sites near the Upper Lake. Two of the
whilst also providing a more stable structure. length and fromunder lm to 2m inwidth, sites are ovoid in shape (c. 12m by 7m and
In this regard, a
noteworthy aspect of the and with few exceptions were less than 10m by 5m respectively) and the other is
platform charcoal sites recorded in 0.5m deep. Ten of them have been dated to much smaller and circular in shape (c. 3m by
Glendalough (see below) is the ratio of the the early and late medieval periods, in 3m). At least one site has a low wall
short axis to the long axis. In almost half of the ninth-thirteenth centuries. constructed at the rear. The excavations
particular
the cases, this falls within the relatively Later dates were obtained for a pit confirm conclusion that the
Healy's
narrow range of 0.75 to 0.85. The excavated in Cork, as well as another are indeed charcoal
platforms production
predominance of the ratios in this range is possible pit (AD 1280-1420 and 1420-1640 sites, with extensive charcoal-rich deposits.
not likely to be due to chance, the Chi-square Historical references indicate that much
respectively).
(48.0685; df = 5; p = 0.000) being highly Pits comparable in size and date to those of the valley may have been significantly
significant. Whether this reflects a referred to above have been recorded at two deforested since at least the mid-seventeenth
practical
rule of thumb employed where appropriate to charcoal production camps excavated in century. This suggests that the majority of the
construct a stable platform without Kilkenny (Joanna Wren, pers. comm.). Both platforms inGlendalough are unlikely to be
unnecessary digging is uncertain. sites had similar oval pits containing associated with more modern industrial
constructed platforms of oak for the activity. Charcoal analysis and radiocarbon
Pit production sites production of charcoal. The pits ranged in dating will establish the dates of the
A substantial number of pits used in charcoal size from 1.8m by 1.4m to 1.4m by 1.05m, platforms and will also provide insights into
production have been excavated in Ireland in and varied in depth from 0.14m to 0.44m. the type of woodland management regimes
recent years during the course of large-scale Radiocarbon dates from charcoal recovered associated with their use. Important
development-led excavation projects. A from pits from both camps ranged from the information on the trees and woodlands in
comprehensive data source, comprising eleventh century to the mid-thirteenth Wicklow over recent centuries has been
records of 100 excavated pit sites, has been century. documented by Carey (forthcoming).
grass-covered site may be found, with an ironworks operating in Ireland in the 1600s References
area of 10m by 9m. More of several hundred and P.A. and I.D. 1999
approximate surface had large workforces Ardon, Rotherham, Types
systematic fieldwork in the valley and more, such as the furnace in Kenmare of charcoal hearth and the impact of
areas would to more charcoal and whitecoal on
adjoining be likely to reveal other (Kerry), and may be compared production
charcoal sites. recent industrial developments in rural areas woodland vegetation. Peat District Journal
production
Cummeengeera seems to have been well (McCracken 1971). of Natural History and Archaeology 1, 35-47.
wooded to the decades of the A number of pit production sites have, as M. (ed.) (forthcoming) Open your eyes.
prior early Carey,
1700s, when some 600 acres of trees in the outlined above, been dated to the Documentary insights into Wicklow's trees
mainly
Glenmore are said to have medieval Ironworks in Ireland were and woodlands over recent centuries.
adjacent Valley period.
been felled to provide charcoal for the iron most prevalent between 1600 and 1800 Healy, P. 1972 Supplementary survey of ancient
furnace in nearby Tousist (McCracken 1971), and many of the charcoal monuments at Glendalough, Co. Wicklow.
operated (Kerry)
from 1709 to 1735 (Mould 2002). By the end production platforms may therefore be dated Office of PublicWorks, Dublin.
of the eighteenth century Cummeengeera was predominantly to the post-medieval period. Jones, M. (ed.) 1993 Sheffield'swoodland
treeless. Some of the hut sites found Nevertheless, more extensive radiocarbon heritage. Green Tree Publications,
virtually
in the valley may have been associated with is to an overall Rotherham.
dating required provide
charcoal-burners and woodcutters. of the relative chronology of pit Kelly, D.W. (ed.) 1996 Charcoal and charcoal
perspective
It is to compare the and charcoal sites in burning. Shire Publications, Princes
interesting platform production
ovoid recessed and the McDermott, Graeme Warren, Niall Kenny excavations. In Proceedings of the 2009
subrectangular
recessed hearths in the Sheffield area. and Joanna Wren, who made available to us National Roads Authority Seminar. National
platform
Whether the in Cummeengeera details of their recent investigations. The Roads Authority, Dublin.
platforms
have revetments has not been assessed, extensive information Emmet H. 1996 Medieval Glendalough: an
Valley provided by Long,
however. The ovoid surface site may be Byrnes and the extracts from his interdisciplinarystudy.Unpublished Ph.D
compared with the bowl hearths and/or forthcoming book received fromMichael thesis,TrinityCollege Dublin.
undefined hearths in the Sheffield area. are much The McCracken, E. (ed.) 1971 The Irish woods since
Carey appreciated.
In similarities between the contributions of Connie Brendan Tudor times. David and Charles, Newton
considering Murphy,
sites in the two areas, itmay be noted that a Riordan, Jim O'Donoghue, Eugene Hendrick Abbott.
substantial number of English workers were and Katarina are also Mould, D.P. 2002 The clachan of
Domijan gratefully
engaged at the ironworks operating in the acknowledged. Cummeengeera. Mizen Journal 10, 39-51.