Why Do Archaeologists Find Charcoal and Wood Remains in Archaeological Sites?
When humans build fires they use wood from their immediate surroundings. When the fires go out, incompletely burned fragments remain as charcoal. Charcoal, commonly found in archaeological contexts, can be used to identify trees found at the site. Charcoal is partly burned (charred) wood, consisting mainly of carbon, sometimes found in situ as burned timbers of buildings and other structures or in hearths, but more frequently widely disseminated through the deposits. Charcoal persists in the archaeological record because it doesn’t decompose biologically. It is largely unaffected by wood destroying organisms (bacteria, fungi, insects and other invertebrates). As a result, it will persist in soil for long periods of time and often turns up in archaeological excavations as components from old hearth or camp fires and from the postholes of burned buildings. The identification of such charcoal is essential to provide a record of paleo-climatic changes and has significance as evidence of an
