Fuel and fire: The fire record as an archive of neanderthal behaviour and their ecological environment

Abstract

Firewood is the main fuel used by Neanderthals during the Middle Palaeolithic. The abundance or scarcity of fuel conditions human groups’ relationship with fire. The pyroarchaeological record -fire record in archaeological sites- is a key archaeological aspect for understanding Neanderthal behaviour and environmental conditions. In this work, we focus on the importance of understanding the surrounding vegetation, potentially used as fuel, to understand fire management by Neanderthals. The results are based on the phytolith and charcoal record documented in the late Middle Palaeolithic levels of Cova Gran de Santa Linya (Les Avellanes, Lleida). We will evaluate the potential of each analysis, the limits, and the complementarities between disciplines when dealing with the use of fuel and fire. The obtained results indicate similar patterns in fuel use, wood was selected as the main fuel, and more precisely montane pine wood. This indicates that the selection criteria was possibly based on the most abundant and available wood, showing no scarcity periods and the presence of a forest of cryophilous pines in the surroundings. Along with the use of wood, the phytolith results showed the use of grasses, complementing the results of anthracology with the identification of non-woody plants, providing us with a more complete picture of exploitable plant resources and fire management. This study suggests that the availability of wood resources was determinant in the occupation and probably condition the mobility patterns of human groups. The analysis of the pyroarchaeological record can also be a way of approximating the settlement patterns and forest environment by Neanderthals groups.