Archaeological Investigations at Yourhaney Plantation (38GE18)

162The validity of this observation is strengthened due to the inclusion of poor fuel-woods such asbasswood, hophornbeam, and sycamore in the Historic Period wood charcoal assemblage (Tables17-18).The proportion of pine associated with four circa 1800 features increased from 60 to 70 percent.The diversity of hardwoods identified in these features, like their proportions, is much lower.Identified hardwoods found in the circa 1800 component include 6 percent hickory, 9 percent oak,and 15 percent indeterminate hardwoods. These hardwood and pine proportions indicate littlealteration of the local forest between the initial 18 th century occupation and the end of the 1700s.The proportion of hardwoods associated with the 19 th -century component at Site 38GE18 is bothexceptionally lower (3%) and less diverse (one taxon—basswood) than that of the 18 th century.The 97 percent proportion of pine (which includes a 100% presence of this taxon, a poor fuelwood,in a 19 th -century hearth) associated with the 19 th -century occupation of Site 38GE18 issuggestive of significant land clearing in the site vicinity by the mid-1800s. The recovery of maizefrom 43 percent of the Historic Period features, common bean in both 18 th -century and circa 1800features, and wheat in a circa 1800 feature indicates that the inhabitants were actively farmingtheir land (Table 13).The identification of pine, a poor fuelwood, in the 19 th -century hearth, and the exclusiveidentification of basswood and pine (both poor sources of fuel) in the 19 th -century pit feature,strengthens our suggestion that the Historic Period inhabitants collected their fuel from the localforest surrounding their homes rather than purchasing it from local markets. Further evidence oflocal harvesting of fuel is provided by the relatively low proportion of oaks and hickory in every18 th and 19 th century context at 38GE18 (Table 18). Historic documents on fuel-wood use in 18 thand 19 th century America indicate that oak and hickory were the most common woods sold incommercial markets along the East Coast of the United States.Resource ExploitationWood charcoal from selected cultural features (hearths and postholes) was examined in an effort todiscern patterns of selective resource utilization. Proportions of identified wood charcoalassociated with 3 18 th through 19 th -century hearths (Features 124, 119 and Bag 418) offers anindication of fuel-wood preferences and wood gathering practices. The wood charcoal identifiedfrom 2 circa 1800 postholes (Features 128, 129) and 3 indeterminate 18 th /19 th -century postholes(Features 100, 106, 139) indicates what woods were selected for building materials.Three hearths were identified in the Historic Period features that were sampled for macroplantremains. These features dated to the 18 th -century (Feature 124), circa 1800 (Bag 418), and late19 th -century components. The 18 th -century hearth contained a heterogeneous mix of pine (55%),hickory (5%), oak (10%), ash (10%), maple (10%), and hophornbeam (10%). Wood charcoalidentified in the late 19 th -century hearth consisted of 100 percent pine. The flotation samplecollected from the circa 1800 hearth yielded 13 percent pine, 20 percent oak, 20 percent hickory,and 47 percent indeterminate hardwood.