Pyrotechnologies of Middle and Later Stone Age foragers in central Africa: a micro-contextual approach

Descrizione del progetto

Uno sguardo più attento al primo uso del fuoco da parte dell’umanità

Gli esseri umani hanno fatto passi da gigante nel processo evolutivo tecnologico nel momento in cui hanno imparato ad accendere e a controllare il fuoco. Tuttavia, le conoscenze sulla nascita della prima pirotecnologia sono relativamente scarse. Il progetto MicroAsh, finanziato dall’UE, ricostruirà la variabilità pirotecnica dei periodi mesolitico e neolitico concentrando l’attenzione su tre rifugi chiusi in pietra nella valle Kasitu in Malawi e caratterizzerà le ceneri, ossia i componenti sedimentari principali presso questi siti. Il progetto applicherà tecniche geoarcheologiche per studiare i processi di formazione dei siti, l’utilizzo del fuoco e il rapporto paleoambientale, la variabilità nell’uso del fuoco per scopi rituali e di sussistenza nel tempo, nonché l’intensità del suo impiego nel sito. Inoltre, MicroAsh creerà set di dati sperimentali aperti sulle ceneri caratterizzate.

Obiettivo

The ability to produce and control fire is a momentous technological development and one that is unique to humans. The ways in which early pyrotechnology evolved and varied amongst prehistoric foragers is, however, poorly resolved. The main objective of the MicroAsh project is to reconstruct Middle and Later Stone Age (MSA and LSA) pyrotechnology variability by focusing on three closed-space rockshelters located in the Kasitu Valley (Malawi), which show exceptional preservation of organic materials. My pilot studies have shown that ashes constitute the main sedimentary components at the selected sites, though individual combustion features are invisible based solely on field observations. Human remains have been retrieved from all three sites, with the apparent use of fire for ritual interment practices during the LSA. MicroAsh will apply high-resolution geoarchaeological techniques (micromorphology, µFTIR, GIS), to study (1) site formation processes, (2) the relationship between fire use and paleoenvironment, (3) variability in the use of fire for ritual and subsistence through time, and (4) site-use intensity. The project will create, and make openly available, experimental datasets on characterization of ashes from varied local botanical resources that are of use to research in similar archaeological contexts in Africa. The largely unexplored potential of using human-made residues will contribute to our understanding of the transition from MSA to LSA foraging strategies. My experience in geoarchaeological studies in Malawi will directly assist me on achieving the goals of this ambitious project. The array of technical and transferable skills I will gather through the completion of MicroAsh and the widening of my collaboration network will be key in achieving my future career goals of becoming a team leader and starting my own research group.