Europe

Project Description.

Fire is a key innovation in human evolution that eventually led all modern societies to routinely rely on it. There is growing evidence for fire use prior to the emergence of Neandertals or anatomically modern humans. However, there is debate on whether Neandertals were obligate fire users and there is still little known about the specifics of Neandertal and early modern human pyrotechnology. This project, FLAME, will address these issues through a multi-scale, geoarchaeological investigation of fire-related behavior of Neandertals and early Homo sapiens. A replicative analytical protocol using cutting-edge techniques (micromorphology, organic chemistry, µFTIR, µAnthracology, and GIS) will be applied to fire features across Europe and through the time span of the Middle and Upper Paleolithic.