Lighting the Dark in The Palaeolithic: Examining Variation in Light between Different Wood Species Using a Randomised Firewood Collection Strategy
Light produced by fire was a crucial survival tool for Palaeolithic hunter-gatherers, enabling the occupation of deep caves and the extension of daylight hours. Previous research using standardised experimental protocols identified variations in the illuminance properties of different wood species,...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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EXARC
2025-08-01
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| Series: | EXARC Journal |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://exarc.net/ark:/88735/10799 |
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| Summary: | Light produced by fire was a crucial survival tool for Palaeolithic hunter-gatherers, enabling the occupation of deep caves and the extension of daylight hours. Previous research using standardised experimental protocols identified variations in the illuminance properties of different wood species, which could be utilised for various tasks as part of fuel selection strategies. However, these standardised experiments, which control for the size and state of the wood and hearth design, do not accurately reflect actual firewood collection and fuel management strategies employed by prehistoric hominins. This study uses a randomised wood collection strategy, without controls on the size or state of the wood and a flat hearth design to test whether illuminance properties of different wood species observed in previous studies can be replicated. The results indicate that lux (light) measurements, ranked from highest to lowest, are consistent with those found in standardised experiments. Significant differences were, however, noted in the overall measure of light properties, with some species yielding much lower values than previously observed. This demonstrates that variations in the size and state of the wood (decayed, dry, or semi-decayed) can influence the levels of outgoing light. By employing a firewood collection strategy more representative of prehistoric hunter-gatherers, these findings more accurately reflect the levels of light experienced from hearths using different types of wood and fuels and provide new data that can be used in computational models examining sources of light in deep caves. |
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| ISSN: | 2212-8956 |