Abstract Why was “chaff temper” used in pottery production? The possible reasoning behind the practice of intentionally adding organic matter (various plant parts and plant-containing materials) to clay paste when making is explored by studying four Early Neolithic open settlements. Located contrasting regions, northwest southwest Bulgaria, they have geological settings, altitude, climate, “pot...

In 2008, a late-12th-century merchant ship was discovered off the commercial port of Rhodes. The vessel caught fire before sinking and thus numerous hull timbers were found charred. Three main degrees charring have been recorded that presented major chemical differences which indicated different conservation requirements. This study investigated correlation between chemistry waterlogged their p...

Pyrogenic carbon (PyC) is produced by the thermal decomposition of organic matter in the absence of oxygen (O). PyC affects nutrient availability, may enhance post-fire nitrogen (N) mineralization rates, and can be a significant carbon (C) pool in fire-prone ecosystems. Our objectives were to characterize PyC produced by wildfires and examine the influence that contrasting types of PyC have on ...

Abstract Recent excavations at the Pre-Pottery Neolithic A site of Sharara (ca. 9250 cal bc ) in southern Jordan have yielded a rich assemblage charred macrobotanical remains. The bulk this was recovered from single structure settlement that destroyed by fire and which appears to functioned as an area for processing possibly also storing plant foods. Among remains space were nearly 700 fig frui...

ent-Eudesmane sesquiterpenoids, 8,11-dihydroxy-2,4-cycloeudesmane, 11-hydroxy-2,4-cycloeudesman-8-one and 2,4-cyclo-7(11)-eudesmen-8-one, were isolated from the wood of Platycarya strobilacea, which has been used as an aromatic tree since at least the 18th century. On charring the wood, 2,4-cyclo-7(11)-eudesmen-8-one was detected in the smoke. In the charred wood, the concentrations of ellagita...

This paper explains the method, borrowed from discipline of paleobotany, sample processing for water flotation retrieved archaeological contexts and their adjacent sediments. It presents insights, including specific methodological approach initial results samples' assessment, a case study site located at 35 Exarch Joseph St – now within heavily urbanised city centre Sofia, Bulgaria, but falling...

Assistant Professor of Biology Whittier College, Whittier, California 90608,USA; and Assistant Professor of Biology, Occidental College, Los Angeles, California 90041 Abstract: The herbaceous flora of the chaparral includes annual and perennial species which differ in their temporal relationship to fire. Germination cues for these herb groups could be expected to reflect these temporal differen...

AMS (Accelerator Mass Spectrometry) radiocarbon dates for eight potsherds from a single piece of pottery from a wetland archaeological site indicated that charred material from the inner pottery surfaces (5052 ± 12 BP; N = 5) is about 90 (14)C years older than that from the outer surfaces (4961 ± 22 BP; N = 7). We considered three possible causes of this difference: the old wood effect, reservo...

Fire-derived, pyrogenic carbon (PyC), sometimes called black carbon (BC), is the carbonaceous solid residue of biomass and fossil fuel combustion, such as char and soot. PyC is ubiquitous in the environment due to its long persistence, and its abundance might even increase with the projected increase in global wildfire activity and the continued burning of fossil fuel. PyC is also increasingly ...