XVI International Botanical Congess

Charcoal and burned plant material originally used to construct igloo-huts was excavated from a 600 year-old village of Susquehannoc Indians of Pennsylvania. Charcoal has been difficult to study because it spliners and crumbles during processing. Plastic embedding achieved excellent detail of secondary xylem. Cell wall archetecture was clearly discernable for identification of wood type and species. Ethanol and butanol caused swelling and splintering, however pure acetone did not. Material was easily embedded in a low-viscosity epoxy resin. Analysis of 1 micron-thick stem sections indicated that the tribe migrated every 10-12 years. Since all the charcoal wood was hardwood in what was a dominant conifer forest suggests that Indians planted hardwood saplings before migrating, which would be usable when the tribe returned to the site 10-12 years later.