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Microstratigraphic, lipid biomarker and stable isotope study of a middle Palaeolithic combustion feature from Axlor, Spain
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Combustion features are key archaeological sedimentary deposits comprising combustion residues (charcoal, phytoliths, and heated bone, stone or pottery) and thermally altered sediments.1,2 In Middle Paleolithic research, they are especially relevant given their prominence in the archaeological record and provide us with information on the technological, economic and cultural aspects of some of the activities carried out by different human groups.3–5 The current data from different sites throughout Iberia indicate that Iberian Neanderthals used different species of wood as fuel depending on the availability of wood in the forests in the immediate vicinity of the sites (pine or thermomediterranean species); in addition to local availability, fuel gathering preferences appear to have involved the state and caliber of the wood.4 Alternative fuels such as animal fat, bones, resin, leaves, and pinecones were also used as a complement to primary fuels, as well as for ignition and maintenance.4 Archaeological combustion features can represent intact combustion activity contexts (e.g., combustion residues on a ground surface) or contexts reworked by humans, wind, or water (i.e., redeposited combustion residues).2 Their identification and characterization in the field is difficult due to the complexity of archaeological site formation processes.6 Interdisciplinary microcontextual approaches have shown high potential to infer past fire-related activities and contribute to the behavioral information of past human societies as well as to reconstruct past environments.7 Using soil micromorphology in conjunction with other high-resolution analytical techniques can help identify combustion residues and their microstratigraphic relationships.8 Over the last few years, Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) and Gas Chromatography Combustion Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometry (GC-C-IRMS) high-resolution analyses have been performed on sedimentary deposits associated to combustion features to address the organic residues sources.9–16 Particularly, the lipid biomarker study on black layers (the charred ground beneath the fire11), both in experimental17–19 and in archaeological11–16 samples have shown the high preservation of lipid biomarker fingerprint on charred organic matter.
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Cell Press