LOW DIRECT FIRE

An experiment was designed to test the effects of low temperature, direct firing on a mud brick. A small pit was dug at the Alalakh Dig House Compound and a single 40 x 40 x 12 cm mud brick was burnt directly in a wood fire using old and out of use crates. The wood stacked under and on top of the mud brick was stoked continuously to keep the direct fire alive for one hour. The results of this experiment revealed that direct low temperature firing created a slight change in the color of the exterior surface. The mud brick became slightly pink at the bottom and black where the fire came into physical contact with the brick. The burnt and deoxidized part of the brick resulted in a thin layer of black coloration. The impact of the fire was slight on the mud brick itself, but we observed that low temperature baking in a fire made the brick crumbly and brittle. Uneven firing decreased the resistivity of the brick and caused it to crumble. In future experiments we plan to measure high temperatures to improve the quality of our observations and to document the effect of various temperatures in the baking process. These preliminary interpretations are based on visual observations.

Murat Akar

akar@alalakh.org