Period Charcoal Making – SLA10A01

By Conor the Black (Steven Windsor)

Level: Beginning

Class Description: Students will understand the basics of how charcoal was made in medieval times and why.

Learning Objectives - By the end of the class, participants will know:

Terms and definitions (mound coal, Sea coal, chunk coal)

Period Uses (polishing metals, medicinal, metal working, funerary)

Why make and/or use charcoal

Period job (the charcoaler)

Period methods to making charcoal (haystack method and pit methods)

Suggested Teaching Resources:

Smith, Cyril Stanley and Gnudi, Martha Teach. The Pirotechnia of Vannoccio Biringuccio. Dover, New York, NY. 1990.

Hoover, Herbert Clark and Hoover, Lou Henry. Georgius Agricola De re Metallica. Dover, New York, NY. 1950.

www.florilegium.org Stefan's Florilegium

http://www.regia.org/charcoal.htm Charcoal Burning

http://www.sirclisto.com/charcoal.html Charcoal Burner

Syllabus kindly made for RUGA by Conor the Black, 1/12/07.