On the evidence for human use and control of fire at Schöningen
Publikation: Beiträge in Zeitschriften › Zeitschriftenaufsätze › Forschung › begutachtet
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in: Journal of Human Evolution, Jahrgang 89, 01.12.2015, S. 181-201.
Publikation: Beiträge in Zeitschriften › Zeitschriftenaufsätze › Forschung › begutachtet
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T1 - On the evidence for human use and control of fire at Schöningen
AU - Stahlschmidt, Mareike
AU - Miller, Christopher
AU - Ligouis, Bertrand
AU - Hambach, Ulrich
AU - Goldberg, Paul
AU - Berna, Francesco
AU - Richter, Daniel
AU - Urban, Brigitte
AU - Serangeli, Jordi
AU - Conrad, Nicholas J.
N1 - Special Issue: Excavations at Schöningen: New Insights into Middle Pleistocene Lifeways in Northern Europe
PY - 2015/12/1
Y1 - 2015/12/1
N2 - When and how humans began to control fire has been a central debate in Paleolithic archaeology for decades. Fire plays an important role in technology, social organization, subsistence, and manipulation of the environment and is widely seen as a necessary adaptation for the colonization of northern latitudes. Many researchers view purported hearths, burnt wooden implements, and heated flints from Schöningen as providing the best evidence for the control of fire in the Lower Paleolithic of Northern Europe. Here we present results of a multianalytical study of the purported hearths along with a critical examination of other possible evidence of human use or control of fire at Schöningen. We conclude that the analyzed features and artifacts present no convincing evidence for human use or control of fire. Our study also shows that a multianalytical, micro-contextual approach is the best methodology for evaluating claims of early evidence of human-controlled fire. We advise caution with macroscopic, qualitative identification of combustion features, burnt flint, and burnt wood without the application of such techniques as micromorphology, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, organic petrology, luminescence, and analysis of mineral magnetic parameters. The lack of evidence for the human control of fire at Schöningen raises the possibility that fire control was not a necessary adaptation for the human settlement of northern latitudes in the Lower Paleolithic.
AB - When and how humans began to control fire has been a central debate in Paleolithic archaeology for decades. Fire plays an important role in technology, social organization, subsistence, and manipulation of the environment and is widely seen as a necessary adaptation for the colonization of northern latitudes. Many researchers view purported hearths, burnt wooden implements, and heated flints from Schöningen as providing the best evidence for the control of fire in the Lower Paleolithic of Northern Europe. Here we present results of a multianalytical study of the purported hearths along with a critical examination of other possible evidence of human use or control of fire at Schöningen. We conclude that the analyzed features and artifacts present no convincing evidence for human use or control of fire. Our study also shows that a multianalytical, micro-contextual approach is the best methodology for evaluating claims of early evidence of human-controlled fire. We advise caution with macroscopic, qualitative identification of combustion features, burnt flint, and burnt wood without the application of such techniques as micromorphology, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, organic petrology, luminescence, and analysis of mineral magnetic parameters. The lack of evidence for the human control of fire at Schöningen raises the possibility that fire control was not a necessary adaptation for the human settlement of northern latitudes in the Lower Paleolithic.
KW - Environmental planning
KW - Early fire
KW - Northern latitudes
KW - Human behaviour
KW - Paleolithic archaeology
KW - Micromorphology
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84930886548&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.jhevol.2015.04.004
DO - 10.1016/j.jhevol.2015.04.004
M3 - Journal articles
C2 - 26087650
VL - 89
SP - 181
EP - 201
JO - Journal of Human Evolution
JF - Journal of Human Evolution
SN - 1095-8606
ER -