1-152-583 - Ann Ronan Picture Library/Heritage-Images

Charcoal burning, 1540. A pit being filled with wood (right), covered with earth and bracken, then slowly burned to produce charcoal. Charcoal produced by this method is inferior to charcoal burned in heaps. From De la Pirotechnia by the Italian metallurgist Vannoccio Biringuccio (1480-1539). (Venice, 1540).