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There’s no smoke without fire: a deep time perspective on the effects of fires on air quality, human health and habitability in the Palaeolithic and prehistory

Publication . Hoare, S.; Preysler, J. B.; Kabukcu, Ceren; Emmerich Kamper, T.; Sinclair, A. G. M.; Torres Navas, C.

The use and control of fire is arguably one of the most important technological advancements of the Homo genus. Prehistoric populations exploit the combustion properties of fires (light, heat and smoke) for daily tasks such as food preparation, insect repellent, extension of daylight hours and modification of technology. The habitual use of fire can however lead to significant health implications through sustained exposure to smoke which can affect air quality resulting in respiratory complications. While smoke is often an important tool in hunter-gatherer activities such as smoking meats, curing hides, accessing highly prized food items’ such as honey and as an insect repellent, to date, little research has been conducted on the actual levels of exposure to harmful toxins contained in smoke that Palaeolithic hunter-gatherers would have been exposed to during their daily lives. In this paper, we present a new methodological protocol for future studies wishing to examine the effects of smoke from open fires on air quality, human health and habitability in the Palaeolithic using environmental monitoring systems. We present the first systematic study of concentration levels of harmful particulate matter (PM2.5) in smoke relative to the use of other combustion properties of fires (light, smoke and radiative heat) from a wide range of fuels used in Palaeolithic fireplaces, recording different types of fires (smoking, glowing and flaming) and activity types (smoking food items, sleeping and cooking). Our empirical findings highlight significant variability in light and heat output, as well as concentrations of harmful particulate matter in smoke (PM2.5). We argue that this variation and the aim to minimise exposure to the harmful elements of smoke, likely influenced the placement of fixed fire features in habitation spaces whether open, semi-open and closed (outdoors, rock shelters, caves, huts and houses) relative to the use of combustion properties. Our results also show how human environment interactions around fire, fuel and habitability (air quality) may have changed over time in some living structures from the Palaeolithic through to later time periods (Neolithic and Iron Age).

2023Journal article

Open access

Evidence for the earliest structural use of wood at least 476,000 years ago

Publication . Barham, David V. C.; Duller, G. A. T.; Candy, I.; Scott, Nádia; Cartwright, C. R.; Peterson, J. R.; Kabukcu, Ceren; Chapot, L.; Melia, F.; Rots, V.; George, N.; Taipale, N.; Gethin, P.; Nkombwe, P.

Wood artefacts rarely survive from the Early Stone Age since they require exceptional conditions for preservation; consequently, we have limited information about when and how hominins used this basic raw material1. We report here on the earliest evidence for structural use of wood in the archaeological record. Waterlogged deposits at the archaeological site of Kalambo Falls, Zambia, dated by luminescence to at least 476 +/- 23 kyr ago (ka), preserved two interlocking logs joined transversely by an intentionally cut notch. This construction has no known parallels in the African or Eurasian Palaeolithic. The earliest known wood artefact is a fragment of polished plank from the Acheulean site of Gesher Benot Ya'aqov, Israel, more than 780 ka (refs. 2,3). Wooden tools for foraging and hunting appear 400 ka in Europe4-8, China9 and possibly Africa10. At Kalambo we also recovered four wood tools from 390 ka to 324 ka, including a wedge, digging stick, cut log and notched branch. The finds show an unexpected early diversity of forms and the capacity to shape tree trunks into large combined structures. These new data not only extend the age range of woodworking in Africa but expand our understanding of the technical cognition of early hominins11, forcing re-examination of the use of trees in the history of technology12,13. Wooden artefacts from waterlogged deposits in Zambia dating back 477 ka indicate hitherto unknown sophistication in woodworking at an early date.

2023Journal article

Open access