Igniting fire traces & symbols -IFRAO 2018

Frontiers of Earth Science in …, 2009

Frontiers of Earth Science in China, 2009

This paper presents an image analysis method for automated quantification of charcoal total area, focusing on the charcoal fractions less than 160 μm observed on 14 pollen slides from Grotta Reali samples. Four fire signals were recorded with 4 high values in the microcharcoal concentration curve. On the basis of modern microcharcoal study, mean length/width ratio of the microcharcoal particles was applied in an archeological context as an indicator of vegetal type (wood, grass or leaves). Therefore, the 4 fire signals were separated into two types: high concentration with high length/width ratio, and high concentration with low length/width ratio. Two fire signals might be interpreted as anthropic fire based on hearth or combustion areas, as inferred from archeological remains.

Handbook of Archaeoastronomy and Ethnoastronomy, 2014

Cultures of Stones: An Interdisciplinary Approach to the Materiality of Stone, 2020

The appearance of torches or flames on sculpted marble Roman ash urns has been interpreted iconographically as a symbol of a life ended prematurely. Fire has certain affordances and properties, which make it an exceptional metaphor for both life and death. By exploring the connections between representational strategies and the materiality of fire, this paper will illuminate the subtle ways in which the sculptural content on Roman cinerary urns demonstrate an awareness of their function as receptacles for bodies, as well as the role of fire as a signifier of transformation. This investigation focuses on the materiality of marble cremation urns from the 1st and 2nd centuries AD with depictions of torches, since these cinerary urns reflexively allude to their status as vessels and containers of the body, after its physical transformation by cremation.

Metsähallituksen luonnonsuojelujulkaisuja A 175, 2008

Introduction The Prehistoric time was long considered as a phase with no importance in explaining and understanding modern landscapes (e.g. Foster et al. 2003). Especially in forested areas, the romantic idea of hunter-gatherers living in harmony with the surrounding primeval forests (Dincauze 2000; Briggs et al. 2006), as well as the concept of wilderness as an uninhabited and uncultivated area (e.g. Hallikainen 1998), have influenced on interpretations made by ecologists and archaeologists. However, the research has repeatably recorded human influence on areas long though of as pristine, and the beginning of anthropogenic impact on nature is now known to date back to the Stone Age (e.g. Smyntyna 2003). In terrestrial biotopes, fire is considered to be the most important disturbance factor affecting biodiversity. Through millenniums, humans have used fire to modify their environments and, though, influenced the number, area and severity of fires. In archaeology, the anthropogenic use of fire is an essential object of archaeological research. During the last ten years, the archaeological investigations on long-term human use of fire have also been applied to restoration and conservation ecology (e.g. Foster et al. 2003; Hayashida 2005). In this paper, the human impact on fire history is discussed from an archaeological point of view. First, a brief summary of pollen analytical evidence of the prehistoric human use of fire in forested areas of eastern Finland is presented. Secondly, the use of archaeological methods on fire historical research is discussed. Finally, the importance of the archaeological research of fire layers is emphasized.

The re-use of Neolithic axe-heads (also known as "celts" or "thunderstones") as amulets in Roman times is nowadays underappreciated. As a result, the ancient date of two small inscribed examples in the British Museum (BM nos. 1* and 504) is now in doubt, a negative assessment that arises from the use of insufficient comparanda. When compared with the growing corpus of magical gems, the media of these two small axe-heads (jadeite or serpentine), their high polish and their shape do indeed seem suspicious and difficult to assess as gems per se, but when viewed alongside other thunderstones, inscribed and uninscribed, found in Roman and later sites, we can see that both of the London stones belong to a clearly defined category of thunderstones reused as amulets. Résumé : La réutilisation des haches néolithiques (également appelées « celts » ou « pierres de foudre ») comme des amulettes à l'époque romaine est aujourd'hui sous-estimée. En conséquence, la date ancienne des deux petits exemples inscrits du British Museum (BM n os 1* et 504) est maintenant remise en doute, en raison d'une évaluation négative qui découle de l'utilisation insuffisante de comparanda. En comparaison avec le corpus croissant de pierres magiques, les médias de ces deux petites haches (jadéite ou serpentine), leur poli et leur forme semblent en effet suspects et difficiles à évaluer comme gemmes en soi, mais quand on les compare à d'autres haches néolithiques inscrites et anépigraphes trouvées dans sites romains et plus tard, il s'avère que les deux pierres à Londres appartiennent à une catégorie bien définie de « pierres de foudre » réutilisées comme amulettes. Although it was the focus of extended discussion at the turn of the last century, the re-use of Neolithic axe-heads-also known as "celts" or "thunderstones"-as amulets in Roman times is nowadays underappreciated. 1 As a result, the ancient date of two small inscribed examples in the British Museum (BM nos. 1* and 504) is now in doubt, 2 a negative assessment that arises, I will suggest, from the use

Scientific Reports

the site of Gruta da Aroeira (torres novas, portugal), with evidence of human occupancy dating to ca. 400 ka (Marine Isotope Stage 11), is one of the very few Middle Pleistocene localities to have provided a fossil hominin cranium associated with Acheulean bifaces in a cave context. the multianalytic study reported here of the by-products of burning recorded in layer X suggests the presence of anthropogenic fires at the site, among the oldest such evidence in south-western Europe. The burnt material consists of bone, charcoal and, possibly, quartzite cobbles. These finds were made in a small area of the cave and in two separate occupation horizons. our results add to our still-limited knowledge about the controlled use of fire in the Lower Palaeolithic and contribute to ongoing debates on the behavioural complexity of the Acheulean of europe.

Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 47, 2023

4900 cal. B. C.) were found at the Early Neolithic site of Lugo di Grezzana (VR) in Valpantena (Italy). Hearths are heat alteration of substrate, which can be prepared or delimited; plastered surfaces hardened by fire are griddles or part of ovens/kilns; firing-pits are all characterised by deep rubefaction of the walls, a slightly-fired bottom (sometimes not fired at all) and large charred wooden boards just few centimetres above the bottom. There are also all those identifying elements of activities related to the use of fire: ash, charcoal, fired clay, burnt ecofacts and artefacts. In spite of superficial interpretations, it is difficult to define which processes led to the formation of such traces in the archaeological record and to relate them to a specific function. Dimensions of the pits and rubefaction of the walls could reflect several and/or long-lasting firings as can be the case for pottery firing. The smallest ones could be used for other purposes. However, we cannot exclude that similar structures might have been used in a multifunctional way. The methodology we applied implements an experimental archaeology approach to test different hypotheses to better understand the complete firing process, and, in turn, through the comparison step by step of the results to the archaeological traces, to increase our knowledge of the archaeological formation processes. The several experimental actions have been enucleated and repeated, slightly changing them many times to see the effects to the record. The experimental work gave unexpected information about pyrotechnology, improving enormously our knowledge of the firing processes, confirmed by an archaemetric approach, through use of SEM-EDXS and FT-IR analyses on both archaeological and experimental samples of fired sediments and pottery. Experiments allowed us to observe the impact of a single vs several firings on a pit, the effects of a firing in reducing conditions and, moreover, what was the technology and arrangements that granted the preservation of charred wooden boards at the base of the pit. The firing-pits turned out to be the results of an advanced pyrotechnological complex which acted as a proper oven/kiln. Keywords: Northern Italy, Neolithic, First villages, Firing structures, Hearths, Ovens, Firing-pits, Experimental archaeology

Comptes Rendus. Géoscience

The comment in question concerns the article "Search for early traces of fire in the Caune de l'Arago at Tautavel (Eastern Pyrenees, France), combining magnetic susceptibility measurements, microscopic observations, and Raman analysis" by Deldicque et al.,