original_query: What was Silva Carbonaria?
query: What was Silva Carbonaria?
answer: Silva Carbonaria, or "charcoal forest", was a large, dense old-growth forest of beech and oak that existed in what is now western Wallonia from the Late Iron Age through the Early Middle Ages. It served as a natural boundary between Roman provinces and later between Frankish kingdoms, and its charcoal fueled iron smelting furnaces.