Authors: McParland, Laura¹; Hazell, Zoë²; Campbell, Gill²; Collinson, Margaret¹; Scott, Andrew¹

Source: Environmental Archaeology, Volume 14, Number 2, October 2009 , pp. 176-183(8)

Publisher: Maney Publishing

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Abstract:

The remains of hypocausts are noted as being widespread throughout the Roman Empire but, whereas the structure of hypocaust systems has been widely documented, primary knowledge of operating temperatures is limited. The petrographic technique of reflectance microscopy is used here to quantify cell wall reflectance values for charcoals from the hypocaust furnace of a bath suite forming part of small Romano-British villa complex at Groundwell Ridge near Swindon (Wiltshire, UK). The technique utilises material of archaeological origin to infer operating temperatures of the hypocaust furnace using established calibrations. The charcoals recovered from the furnace were identified as being predominantly Quercus (Oak) with some Populus/Salix (poplar/willow). Mean random reflectance of the samples indicated furnace-operating temperatures of 330–410°C. These temperatures fall below that of charcoal fuel production and hence suggest that it was wood that was used to fuel the hypocaust at Groundwell Ridge and not charcoal. Knowledge of the operating temperature of the furnace is a starting point in further calculations to understand, using primary evidence, the operating temperatures throughout the hypocaust system.

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Keywords: REFLECTANCE; ROMAN; TEMPERATURE; CHARCOAL; MICROSCOPY

Document Type: Research Article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1179/146141009X12481709928445

Affiliations: 1: Department of Earth Sciences, Royal Holloway, University of London, Egham, Surrey TW20 0EX, UK 2: English Heritage, Fort Cumberland, Fort Cumberland Road, Eastney, Portsmouth PO4 9LD, UK

Publication date: 2009-10-01

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