Abstract
Pyrotechnology was important in prehistory and has been a research topic for decades, in particular, the origins of controlled and habitual use of fire. The earliest putative evidence of fire use is from the African sites of Swartkrans (1,500,000–1,000,000 years ago) and Koobi Fora (1,500,000 years ago). In contrast, researchers working with European sites debate whether habitual use of fire occurred before 400,000 years ago. This paper provides a brief introduction to early fire use and then focuses on the African Middle Stone Age. Published evidence on fire use is available for 34 sites in southern Africa. Combustion features yield much evidence about human behavior, not only in regard to technical skills but also concerning social activities. Several activities using fire, symbolic behavior, spatial structuring, and group size in the Middle Stone Age are inferred from bone and lithic data, ash discard, site maintenance, and hearth size. The current status of knowledge on Middle Stone Age pyrotechnology demonstrates the benefits of applying new methodological approaches, facilitates comparisons with earlier and later archaeological periods, and is an important reminder of the benefits of a multidisciplinary approach.
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Acknowledgments
This article is the end result of a long process. I am forever grateful to my supervisor, Prof. Lyn Wadley, for all her comments and feedback on the various versions of the manuscript. My Ph.D. research has been supported by grants from the Palaeontological Scientific Trust (PAST) and its Scatterlings of Africa programme, and Eivind Sannes’ legat for studerende ungdom fra Fauske kommune in Norway. I thank Dr. Jamie Clark, Tammy Hodgskiss, Helen Kempson, Dr. Christopher Miller, Christine Sievers, Paloma de la Penya, Aurore Val, and a few anonymous reviewers for all the productive feedback on the manuscript. I also am very grateful to the editors and editorial staff at the Journal of Archaeological Research for valuable and constructive feedback on both content and technical issues. Any errors and oversights are fully my own and do not necessarily represent the views of others.
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Bentsen, S.E. Using Pyrotechnology: Fire-related Features and Activities with a Focus on the African Middle Stone Age. J Archaeol Res 22, 141–175 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10814-013-9069-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10814-013-9069-x