Fire to ashes: An experimental approach to Middle Stone Age pyrotechnology

Experiments are crucial to the understanding of fire-related behaviour and the technological aspects of fire use in the African Middle Stone Age. First, fire experiments can help identify the many variables involved in fire use. This study shows how different types of firewood can influence temperature and the use of fire as a tool. Secondly, the experimental approach helps to identify properties of different fire-related features. My experiments focus on the properties of ash dumps compared to hearths, and I show that ash dumps lack distinct layering. Furthermore, items in ash dumps are chaotically aligned. Thirdly, hypotheses for explaining fire-related behaviour can be designed using this method. Scraping out ashes from a hearth before lighting the next fire may have some effect on the temperatures of the fire, but there might be other reasons for the scraping out of ashes. Lastly, my experiments are compared to archaeological combustion features at Sibudu Cave, KwaZulu-Natal. Some of the properties of fire-related features defined during experiments can be recognized archaeologically. Ethnographic examples of fire use also produce similar features to those produced archaeologically.