Archaeological Investigations at Yourhaney Plantation (38GE18)

ARCHAEOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS AT YOURHANEY PLANTATION143Table 19. Burning Characteristics of Common Woods.TaxonBTU'sPerRecoverableBTU's perCord(Millions) HeatEase ofStartingCoalingQualities Spark©12 SmokeOverallQualtityCord9sHickory 27.7 19.39 Very High Fair-Difficult Excellent Moderate Low ExcellentApple 26.5 18.55 High-Medium Difficult Excellent Few Low ExcellentWhite Oak 25.7 17.99 Very High Difficult Excellent Few Low ExcellentSugar Maple 24 16.8 High Difficult Excellent Few Low ExcellentRed Oak 24 16.8 High Difficult Excellent Few Low ExcellentBeech 24 16.8 High Difficult Excellent Few ExcellentYellow Birch 23.6 16.52 High-Medium Easy N/A Moderate ExcellentWhite Ash 23.6 16.52 High Fair-Difficult Good Few Low ExcellentRed Maple 23.2 13.09 High-Medium Fair-Difficult Excellent Few Low ExcellentHackberry 20.8 14.56 High Unknown Good Few Low GoodPaper Birch 20.3 14.21 Medium Easy Good Moderate Medium FairCherry 20 14 Medium Difficult Excellent Few Low GoodSycamore 19.5 Medium Fair N/A Few Medium GoodElm 19.5 13.65 Medium Fair Good Very Few Medium GoodBlack Ash 19.1 13.37 High Fair-Difficult Good Few Low GoodYellow Pine High-Medium Easy Fair Moderate FairPoplar 18 Low Easy Fair Moderate FairHemlock 15.9 11.13 Medium-Low Easy Poor Many FairBlack Spruce 15.9 11.13 Low Easy Poor Many Medium FairPonderosa 15.2 10.64 Medium-Low Easy Fair Moderate Medium FairPineAspen 14.7 10.29 Low Easy Good Few FairWhite Pine 14.3 10.01 Medium-Low Easy Poor Moderate Medium FairBalsam Fir 14.3 10.01 Low Easy Fair Moderate Medium FairCottonwood 13.5 9.45 Low Easy Good Moderate Medium FairBasswood 13.5 9.45 Low Easy N/A Few Medium FairThe macroplant assemblage from these features consisted of 29.01 grams of wood charcoal (0.58gm/L), 30 hickory shell fragments, 14 indeterminate hickory/walnut shell fragments, 3 fragments ofacorn shell, and four other seeds (2 bedstraw, 1unidentifiable, 1 unknown). The bedstraw seedswere recovered from Feature 42. No garden crops were associated with this component. TheWoodland component contained low mast to wood ratios (1/27), high nutshell ubiquities (100%hickory, 40% acorn), and a high overall nutshell density (0.030 gm/L), which is indicative of aconcentrated mast harvest and a fall occupation. The lack of substantial structures and gardencrops, combined with the density and ubiquity of mast, offers evidence of a fall occupation focusedupon nut harvesting and processing.