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Charcoal making experiment

Over the weekend of 31 Jan-1 Feb 2010, we dug a pit that had similar dimensions to the ones found along Germany Beck, to see how these pits would work. We really wanted to know if they could have been producing charcoal in a few days.

Nobody has made charcoal like this, so far as we could discover. Some people said it would take a week or more. The metal workers only had 5 days before they were driven away or killed after the battle of Stamford Bridge.

We were able to start extracting charcoal within 12 hours of lighting the fire. So this system, which we know the Norse people were using in the 11th century, would have worked.

Once it was well alight the fire was covered in leaves and think wood so that it could be covered in soil.

Below this heap is a 2m circular hole that was 80cm deep.

The log on left marks the channel that allowed a little air to enter at the bottom of the burn.

The BBC was there to record events. Terry Dearry, author of the Horrible Histories books, was making a programme.

We were able to rake charcoal out, via the air intake, within 12 hours of light-up. So it would be possible use a pit to make charcoal quickly enough for any recycling work after the battle.

The charcoal was still hot and ready to burn. We sprinkled it with water, partly to cool it but also make it look darker for the photos. So that is steam not smoke.

The fire was allowed to smoulder away for 2 week.

There was still an excellent haul of charcoal even though we had been extracting it during the burn.

A short video showing the digging, building, lighting and management of the fire will be on UTube very soon.

The BBC film was shown on Monday 15 February 2010 as part of the Inside Out show.

 

Interesting links

bullet Battle of Fulford
bullet Battle of Stamford Bridge
bullet Battle of Hastings
bullet English Heritage
bullet Battlefields Trust
bullet Young Archaeologists Club (CAB)
bullet York Archaeological Trust
bullet Regia re-enactors
bullet Viking re-enactors
bulletOnline documents

Events

bullet Riccall Rampage 24 July 2010
bullet Jorvik Festival (there will be another one in 2011!)
bullet Fulford Festival 2010
bullet Festival of archaeology 2010

 

 

 

 

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last updated 20 Julyy 2010