Leiden University Student Repository

Hees, Erica van (2011)

Charcoal identification from a hearth from the late pre-contact and early contact period at Sera Boca, Curaçao, Dutch Antilles.

Bachelor thesis | Archeologie (BA)

From the site Seru Boca on Curaçao where archeological research was conducted by the Faculty of Archeology of the University of Leiden, the Netherlands, charcoal from a hearth place was brought to the botanical laboratory. In order to analyse the relationship of the people who lit the fire with their environment, charcoal determination is conducted in this report. The relevance of charcoal investigation is addressed and for determination, sixteen recent samples were compared with the archeological charcoal and morphological features were looked at. Several approaches towards the choice of wood are noted; not only the suitability, determined by ecophysical and mechanical properties and availibity is looked at, but also ethnographical usage of species is briefly addressed. Concerning the determination, it was established that the species found, Laguncularia racemosa, was present in the vegetation between 1415 and 1648, in which period the archeological charcoal remains were carbon dated.

Author

Hees, Erica van

Faculty

Faculty of Archaeology

Supervisors

Field, M.

ECTS Credits

10

Language

en