[Terrapreta] Pottery Shards and Terra Preta

[Sean K. Barry]

Hi Kevin and Lou,

I do not think that once they discovered that soil with charcoal and pottery bits in it seemed to be more fertile, that the people just assumed both were necessary.  Even simple experimentalists might try soil with just charcoal alone, soil with just pottery shards, soil with both, and then compare.  So, I imagine that the inclusion of charcoal and pottery shards found in ALL of in the TP soil formations discovered was an intentional combination of all three.

Perhaps we would only need to conduct that same sort of simple experiment to see why that the combination works better?  Then we, like the Pre-Columbian people, would see it and still not know why?  Lucky for us, there are soil science researchers who might have clever tools to discover the meaning of why pottery shards are included in Terra Preta soil formations.

Regards,

SKB
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: lou gold<mailto:lou.gold at gmail.com> 
  To: Kevin Chisholm<mailto:kchisholm at ca.inter.net> 
  Cc: Terrapreta preta<mailto:terrapreta at bioenergylists.org> 
  Sent: Tuesday, December 11, 2007 1:34 AM
  Subject: Re: [Terrapreta] Pottery Shards and Terra Preta


  Kevin,

  The video simply showed what they found in terra preta soils, layer after layer of pottery. The interest was in showing that TP was man-made, pottery being the evidence. Because they said that pottery was found in EVERY place of TP, it is reasonable also to think it played some role in the process. The BBC documentary simply said that analysis showed the presence of pottery, charcoal and organic matter. 

  I don't know that this means that pottery is "essential" in making TP in the chemical or biological sense. It might mean that the pottery was a container for another ingredient that was essential to the process. I speculated that the "ingredient" might have been human waste. If there were millions of people living there, waste management would have been a serious challenge. An integrated waste management system that recycled waste into TP production would have been an interesting and feasible solution. 

  The pottery was also found everywhere there was raised earth. They showed it as especially dense in areas of mound building. Perhaps this was structural, giving a "foundation" in the ground, helping to prevent erosion, etc. 

  I'm only speculating.

  lou




  On Dec 11, 2007 3:18 AM, Kevin Chisholm <kchisholm at ca.inter.net<mailto:kchisholm at ca.inter.net>> wrote:

    Dear Lou


    lou gold wrote:
    > Kevin,
    >
    > I don't know if you watched the BBC video, "The Secret of El Dorado"?
    > It shows the pottery dramatically, in layers deep into the soil. 
    > http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2809044795781727003&q=secret+of+el+dorado&total=21&start=0&num=10&so=0&type=search&plindex=0 <http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2809044795781727003&q=secret+of+el+dorado&total=21&start=0&num=10&so=0&type=search&plindex=0>
    > <http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2809044795781727003&q=secret+of+el+dorado&total=21&start=0&num=10&so=0&type=search&plindex=0 <http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2809044795781727003&q=secret+of+el+dorado&total=21&start=0&num=10&so=0&type=search&plindex=0>>
    >

    I watched the video. I might have missed something, but I didn't see
    anything that was suggestive that pottery was an essential component of TP

    > The pottery shards are suggestive to me. I speculate that the earth 
    > kilns used for making the pottery (loaded with lots of broken pieces
    > from pottery making) became middens for human and organic wastes.
    > Later as the whole "stew" ripen into TP, it could have been transfered 
    > to the fields and also be useful structurally for creating raised beds
    > and preventing erosion under the heavy rains.
    >
    > What do you think?

    I would think that there was some other process... the extent of 
    earthworks involved means that they would have had a methodical way to
    proceed, and not rely simply on using their middens to reclaim and
    protect land.

    In one section of the video, where they were talking about "... TP is 
    mined and replaces itself in 20 years...", they clearly mention that the
    leaves from the nearby forest fill in where they mined, and the TP is
    replaced. There is no mention of pottery shards in the process of 
    growing new TP.

    I am wondering if TP formation was as simple as follows:
    They build a raised bed with some charcoal or black earth initially, and
    with canals on both sides.
    They plant crops.
    They throw the vegetative waste from the crops into the water channels 
    on both sides of the raised beds.
    During dry season, they shovel the anaerobic decomposition products up
    on to the raised bed, to build it higher.

    This would seem to hang together.

    What do you think? 

    Best wishes,

    Kevin


    >
    > lou
    >
    >
    >
    >
    >
    > On Dec 10, 2007 5:09 PM, Kevin Chisholm <kchisholm at ca.inter.net <mailto:kchisholm at ca.inter.net>

    > <mailto:kchisholm at ca.inter.net<mailto:kchisholm at ca.inter.net>>> wrote:
    >
    >     Some people hold that pottery shards are an important aspect to the 
    >     working of Terra Preta, (TP) but others feel that the presence of
    >     pottery shards in Amazonian Dark Earths (ADE) is incidental to the
    >     performance of the TP.
    >
    >     Is it possible that the Researchers looked for the presence of pottery 
    >     shards as a way of proving human involvement, and did most of
    >     their work
    >     on TP soils that had a human involvement?
    >
    >     Pottery was a big art of Brazilian Indian Culture, but other Ancient 
    >     Cultures did not have, or made very little use, of pottery. Are tehre
    >     any "black earth" deposits outside "pottery cultures" that are
    >     acknowledged as being the equivalent to TP? 
    >
    >     Is it possible that there are many man made TP soils to which no
    >     shards
    >     were added?
    >
    >     What is the nature of the shards found in TP? Are they like a crushed
    >     grog, where it is obvious that effort had been expended breaking the
    >     pottery to relatively small pieces, OR, is shard size and shape such
    >     that it suggests broken pottery items were simply discarded? 
    >
    >     Are the shards of a nature in size and completeness that they could be
    >     re-assembled to reveal the size and shape of the original pottery
    >     items?
    >
    >     Is there any evidence to suggest that pottery shards were indeed added 
    >     on purpose, in contrast to merely being disposed of an
    >     non-functional items?
    >
    >     Is there any evidence to show that TP WITH pottery shards  works
    >     better
    >     than TP WITHOUT shards? 
    >
    >     Is there any evidence that shards of one range of sizes and
    >     composition
    >     and degree of firing give better results in TP than another?
    >
    >     Can anyone think of other reasons why pottery shards would be a 
    >     valuable
    >     addition to TP?
    >
    >     Can anyone think of reasons why pottery shards would not make any
    >     difference?
    >
    >     Any facts, comments and observations would be both enlightening and 
    >     appreciated.
    >
    >     Best wishes,
    >
    >     Kevin
    >
    >
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