[Terrapreta] (nature of pottery shards, linkage to copice and pollard wood management)

[James Thomas]

I can't help but ask this question: although the original archaeologist 
who started the interest in Terra Preta in the Amazon was unfortunately 
brought down by a burglar's bullet, surely there is an archaeologist, or 
even a modern day potter(s) who could provide some insight with regard 
to whether the  "pottery shards" would consist of mud and corn root 
balls simply gathered at the field where pyrolysis was to be performed 
then slathered over the pile of corn stalks or if the "pottery shards" 
are actual pottery shards from kiln fired pots. If so, wouldn't charcoal 
be a natural fuel source for heating a pottery kiln? Which brings to 
mind an interesting proposition from me who *knows* very little about 
pottery craft but who possesses a boundless imagination. What if a green 
(meaning meaning air dried but unfired) pot was formed from wet clay, 
then filled with charcoal and lit, in lieu of firing in a kiln?. If so 
maybe some of the pots would crack during the  firing process.  Then if  
by just observation it was noted that crops grew better where such 
charcoal laden pots wee discarded.. well you can fill in the blanks. In 
summary we can speculate about whether pottery is from the charcoal 
making process or from actual pottery by asking a potter. In addition my 
daughter who is currently living and working in Honduras tells me that 
some native families make and sell charcoal because that is what many 
folks use to cook with, so the technology is not  lost. In Europe, 
especially England, woodsmen practiced coppicing or pollarding of 
hardwoods such as hazel nut ash and oak. They created value added 
products to sell and piled the wood scrap or poles in stacks then 
covered them with turves and lit them to create charcoal for both 
cooking and heating fuel and to provide fuel for metal smelting. This 
was before coal and coke production via essentially a pyrolysis process 
to smelting of ore came into vogue As I understand the process these 
woodsmen were referred to as "bodgers"  in England. Because of the 
nature of the coppicing or pollarding process, the deciduous trees and 
shrubs would regrow  from dormant buds or root buds which in general 
added considerably to the life spans of the trees and shrubs involved.  
I have observed wild hazel nut bushes in my area be either mowed or 
burned then regenerate from root buds. Typically the regrowth is 
straighter, hence more usable for human purposes. So following this 
train of thought, isn't it possible that bodgers also sold charcoal for 
agricultural purposes in the United Kingdom and continental Europe, and 
secondly, moving across the globe, isn't it possible that coppicing or 
pollarding would have worked for  long ago Amazon Natives (or even 
present natives) or do the deciduous trees there simply not regrow when 
so managed? I have a few missionary friends who live in Brazil and they 
tell me that slash and burn sites for native agriculture in Brazil 
generally look just the same as previously in a few years after the 
slash and burn. Now, mind you, these are missionaries who come from  a 
family with a new England Oxen farming background, so I don't know if 
they can distinguish if indeed these are re-sprouts from the same trees 
that were originally there or restocking from seeds or simply root 
invasion or even if indeed the recolonization with vegetation is 
actually the same tree species. However, they do know a fair amount 
about agriculture and timber harvest via hand and/or draft animals; so I 
give their opinions due credit.  But I can't help but wonder: did these 
long-ago Amazon Natives practice coppicing and/or pollarding and if so, 
did they also use the waste wood from such management for charcoal for 
pottery kilns or cooking fuel or or to fire their pots as I described? 
Maybe they put charcoal in pots to cook food with, and on occasion the 
pots shattered.

Modern day replicators of Stone Age Archery have been able to whack down 
a three or four inch elm tree in just a few minutes with a sharp heavy 
stone and make a usable hunting bow from the small tree in just a few 
days. Similarly with making arrows. (Look in Traditional Archers Bible, 
Volume Three). I refuse to believe that this technology was only limited 
to Europe or North America. So why not imagine in Terra Preta Land: 
groves of trees and shrubs managed via coppicing or pollarding to 
provide small wood for human needs, and this would include bows and 
arrows or other weapons and tools _and_ for production of charcoal.   
Think about it, with just simple hand tools and no large sawmills to 
turn large tropical hardwood  trees into boards, if you wanted to build 
a house and furnish it, why not use small diameter flexible, coppiced 
wood covered with thatch as building materials to keep yourself and 
family in hearth and home. Such methods are quick, efficient and 
sustainable. 

Now I don't know the nature of the  construction materials of the cities 
that the expedition headed by Spanish Conquistador Orrellana encountered 
500+ years BP,in his expedition down the Amazon; whether they were 
constructed with wood and thatch, (maybe coppiced or pollarded), adobe 
or stone, but , my daughter tells me that  huts built with plastered 
mud, then roofed with thatch or tin sheets supported by small wooden 
beams are used in Honduras. (Thin metal roof sheeting is  preferred over 
thatch because a dangerous human parasite can live in the thatch). Mud 
huts is the common term for these homes.  Coppiced wood would provide 
easily handled roof beams or thatch support.

I think I will just have to somehow travel to my friend's home in Brazil 
when I have enough leave accumulated and investigate the slash and burn 
and/or possible coppice/ pollard with charcoal production scenario for 
myself.  In summary there are several viable options for the generation 
of charcoal and the pottery shards, but if we stop and think about the 
subject and then actually consult with some modern day bodgers, who may 
reside in either the United Kingdom or in the Amazon, if such folks 
still exist, and  some modern day potters and some archaeologist/ 
geologist  types who could tell us much about the mineral and chemical 
derivation of the pottery shards, well we could have some real answers 
instead of just speculating endlessly, while safely ensconced in the 
comfort of our computer stations with coffee mug in hand; drinking 
coffee from Brazil, which coffee was likely harvested by some poor 
native who likely  knows more about the Terra Preta situation than all 
of us combined. .

For my purposes, _*/I want some biochar now/*_ please ( a ton or two or 
I'll just have to make my own in a backyard barrel pyrolysis unit ) and 
figure out how to cleanly burn the syngas and biofuel in the smoke so I 
can experiment with the effects on cropped soils right here and now.  I 
need real answers not endless debate about whether th big oil or big 
agriculture  or big energy interests  foresee a future for biochar 
applied to soils.
/jmt