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Journal ArticleDOI

Assessing the Function of Palaeolithic Hearths: Experiments on Intensity of Luminosity and Radiative Heat Outputs from Different Fuel Sources

01 Dec 2020-Vol. 3, Iss: 4, pp 537-565
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examined the light and heat properties of nine different types of fuels (eight individual species of wood and fresh bone) by assessing intensity of luminosity and radiative heat outputs using a lux metre and thermal imaging camera.
Abstract: Assessing the function of Palaeolithic hearths is a key research issue that can benefit from the application of experimental archaeology when examining whether the behaviourally related purposes of fire, e.g. heat, light and cooking, could be correlated with combustion features in the archaeological record. Not all species of wood and types of fuel burn the same way. Variability exists in the amount of ash and smoke produced, along with differences in speed of burning and outgoing light and heat. This paper examined the light and heat properties of nine different types of fuels (eight individual species of wood and fresh bone) by assessing intensity of luminosity and radiative heat outputs using a lux metre and thermal imaging camera. Results show that there is considerable variation between bone and wood in terms of light and heat output and between the individual species of wood. In order to assess whether heat efficiency may vary seasonally, experiments were performed overnight and repeated at ambient air temperature ranges of 11 to 13 and 0 to 3 °C. Results show that in the current data set fuels that emit lower to intermediate heat outputs could be more efficient at colder temperatures in terms of warmth. This represents a preliminary step forward towards attributing behaviourally relevant functions such as light and heat to Palaeolithic combustion features with regard to fuel selectivity.

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Journal ArticleDOI
16 Jun 2021-PLOS ONE
TL;DR: In this paper, the main Paleolithic lighting systems (e.g., wooden torches, portable fat lamps, and fireplaces) were characterized through empirical observations and experimental archeology in an endokarstic context.
Abstract: Artificial lighting was a crucial physical resource for expanding complex social and economic behavior in Paleolithic groups. Furthermore, the control of fire allowed the development of the first symbolic behavior in deep caves, around 176 ky BP. These activities would increase during the Upper Paleolithic, when lighting residues proliferated at these sites. The physical peculiarities of Paleolithic lighting resources are very poorly understood, although this is a key aspect for the study of human activity within caves and other dark contexts. In this work, we characterize the main Paleolithic lighting systems (e.g., wooden torches, portable fat lamps, and fireplaces) through empirical observations and experimental archeology in an endokarstic context. Furthermore, each lighting system’s characteristic combustion residues were identified to achieve a better identification for the archaeological record. The experiments are based on an exhaustive review of archaeological information about this topic. Besides, we apply the estimated luminous data of a Paleolithic cave with Paleolithic art (Atxurra in northern Spain) in 3D through GIS technology to delve into the archeologic implications of illumination in Paleolithic underground activities.

10 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Results of charring experiments presented here indicate that cotyledons of charred dried common bean seeds heated at temperatures between 220 °C and 260-°C maintain strength, identifying characteristics, are little changed in size, and so are likely to survive and be identified.

7 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the role of fire in the behaviours, choices and lives of hominins during the earliest occupations of temperate regions, with a focus on Europe, was explored.

6 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, a robust experimental protocol was designed to study the effects of multi-fuel fires, in particular, the addition of fat to woody fuels, and the relationship between the duration of site occupation and fuel management.

5 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
01 Dec 2020
TL;DR: The use of hearths reflects regular access to fire and its diverse benefits as discussed by the authors, among these benefits are cooked food, protection from the cold and from predators, and fire's transformative power regarding raw materials.
Abstract: Hearths present sedimentary features, artifacts, and direct evidence for maintained and controlled fire in the past. The use of hearths reflects regular access to fire and its diverse benefits. Among these benefits are cooked food, protection from the cold and from predators, and fire’s transformative power regarding raw materials. Hearths may have also served as focal points of activity at Paleolithic campsites and triggered changes in social structures. As sedimentary features, combustion structures function as behavioral as well as paleoenvironmental archives. The papers in this special issue focus on the former aspect, how combustion feature can serve as transmitters of behavior, and with what tools we can explore them. We here briefly present an overview on the range of topics explored in these papers, which include ethnoarchaeological research on fire use among recent hunter-gatherer groups, spatial analysis of burnt lithics, actualistic experiments regarding fire function and fire use in tool production.

4 citations

References
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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The review of the European evidence suggests that early hominins moved into northern latitudes without the habitual use of fire, and the increase in the number of sites with good evidence of fire throughout the Late Pleistocene shows that European Neandertals had fire management not unlike that documented for Upper Paleolithic groups.
Abstract: The timing of the human control of fire is a hotly debated issue, with claims for regular fire use by early hominins in Africa at ∼1.6 million y ago. These claims are not uncontested, but most archaeologists would agree that the colonization of areas outside Africa, especially of regions such as Europe where temperatures at time dropped below freezing, was indeed tied to the use of fire. Our review of the European evidence suggests that early hominins moved into northern latitudes without the habitual use of fire. It was only much later, from ∼300,000 to 400,000 y ago onward, that fire became a significant part of the hominin technological repertoire. It is also from the second half of the Middle Pleistocene onward that we can observe spectacular cases of Neandertal pyrotechnological knowledge in the production of hafting materials. The increase in the number of sites with good evidence of fire throughout the Late Pleistocene shows that European Neandertals had fire management not unlike that documented for Upper Paleolithic groups.

513 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
14 Aug 2009-Science
TL;DR: Replication experiments and analysis of artifacts suggest that humans in South Africa at this time, and perhaps earlier, systematically heated stone materials, including silcrete to improve its flaking properties in making tools.
Abstract: The controlled use of fire was a breakthrough adaptation in human evolution. It first provided heat and light and later allowed the physical properties of materials to be manipulated for the production of ceramics and metals. The analysis of tools at multiple sites shows that the source stone materials were systematically manipulated with fire to improve their flaking properties. Heat treatment predominates among silcrete tools at ~72 thousand years ago (ka) and appears as early as 164 ka at Pinnacle Point, on the south coast of South Africa. Heat treatment demands a sophisticated knowledge of fire and an elevated cognitive ability and appears at roughly the same time as widespread evidence for symbolic behavior.

489 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, a review of the taphonomic processes affecting anthracological assemblages in archaeological contexts, from wood gathering to the analysis of charcoal results, is presented.

349 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The hypothesis that an important and consistent effect of cooking food is a rise in its net energy value is evaluated, and it is predicted that cooking had substantial evolutionary significance.

311 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the significance of the analysis of archaeological wood charcoal macro-remains as a tool for the reconstruction of woodland vegetation and its exploitation is discussed, drawing from both older and more recent publications a number of theoretical and methodological approaches are examined.
Abstract: In this paper the significance of the analysis of archaeological wood charcoal macro-remains as a tool for the reconstruction of woodland vegetation and its exploitation is discussed. Drawing from both older and more recent publications a number of theoretical and methodological approaches are examined. It is suggested that greater integration of charcoal and archaeological data is needed when evaluating charcoal preservation and sample composition, and that a more coherent theory of the complex ecological and cultural processes affecting species availability and firewood management needs to be developed.

296 citations