Intuitively I imagine one of the possible mode of long preservation of fire traces could be soot on the ceilings and walls of caves and rock shelters. I wonder if there are many archaeological finds line this and how deep in time do they go?
This is indeed a valuable way of approaching fire evidence, and one that we are pursuing in the Rising Star system. There has been surprisingly little work of this kind. The ideal situations are those in which stalactites or flowstone curtains have formed over time, and traces of soot are caught between layers that can be dated. There are a few instances like this in Neanderthal sites but I think there is much promise in earlier sites also.
Excellent. I have wondered about how fires were started and “curated” since I was a child. I never had much luck with flint and steel despite many untutored efforts. The following statement caught my attention: “When people want to build a fire somewhere new, they can transport smoldering coals safely in pouches or containers that are lined with insulating materials.” Is anything known about what materials were used? I suppose rocks, gravel, sand and dirt would all work. Nonetheless, carrying fire without metal tools sounds precarious.
The baked earth is pretty distinctive, and we have evidence of vitrification producing durable imprints going back into the Upper Paleolithic. Would be great to find older instances, but may be unlikely with most early fire, which weren't usually built in ways that concentrated heat at that level.
That's a great question. Slightly damp or green grass will do for an insulator. As long as oxygen is limited there is not much chance of it burning out of the container.
Intuitively I imagine one of the possible mode of long preservation of fire traces could be soot on the ceilings and walls of caves and rock shelters. I wonder if there are many archaeological finds line this and how deep in time do they go?
This is indeed a valuable way of approaching fire evidence, and one that we are pursuing in the Rising Star system. There has been surprisingly little work of this kind. The ideal situations are those in which stalactites or flowstone curtains have formed over time, and traces of soot are caught between layers that can be dated. There are a few instances like this in Neanderthal sites but I think there is much promise in earlier sites also.
Excellent. I have wondered about how fires were started and “curated” since I was a child. I never had much luck with flint and steel despite many untutored efforts. The following statement caught my attention: “When people want to build a fire somewhere new, they can transport smoldering coals safely in pouches or containers that are lined with insulating materials.” Is anything known about what materials were used? I suppose rocks, gravel, sand and dirt would all work. Nonetheless, carrying fire without metal tools sounds precarious.
Maybe some proto-ceramics, like pots from dried (and burned) clay?
The baked earth is pretty distinctive, and we have evidence of vitrification producing durable imprints going back into the Upper Paleolithic. Would be great to find older instances, but may be unlikely with most early fire, which weren't usually built in ways that concentrated heat at that level.
That's a great question. Slightly damp or green grass will do for an insulator. As long as oxygen is limited there is not much chance of it burning out of the container.