Ethnobotanical analysis of samples from the John Rutledge House, City of Charleston, South Carolina

Abstract

The ethnobotanical data obtained from the Rutledge House collections suggest a site habitat with abundant cleared and disturbed ground capable of supporting "weedy" plants. No evidence of plan foods was obtained, possibly reflecting food preparation or disposal practices, a sampling bias, or extensive processing typical of high status sites. Surprisingly, wood charcoal is uncommon at the site. This seems to be related to the abundance of coal, which apparently replaced wood as the preferred fuel. What little wood as is present, is primarily oak. The Rutledge House ethnobotanical samples have produced the largest the largest quantities of coal yet recovered from a Charleston site.