The Application of High Resolution Excavation in Reconstructing Early Technologies

University Of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia PA

Investigators

Abstract

Dr. Harold Dibble, of the University of Pennsylvania, along with colleagues from the US, Canada, and Europe, will investigate the use of fire by European Neandertals at 100,000 years ago. This research will be conducted at the French Paleolithic site of Pech de l'Azé IV. While evidence for human use of fire appears to extend back to around 1 million years ago, several lines of evidence suggest that fire was not used regularly until much later, at around 300,000 to 400,000 years ago. More recent evidence shows that the frequency of fire use, at least for some Neandertal groups, was not constant, however, and that it actually decreased during colder periods of the Pleistocene. Perhaps this is because they lacked the ability to start fires themselves and thus had to acquire it from natural wildfires, which were more prevalent during warmer periods. Nonetheless, this pattern implies that fire for warmth or cooking was not necessary for their survival. This, in turn, raises the question of exactly how did they use fire when it was available. The research is significant because it examines the fundamental relationship between technology and human behavior and sets it into a deep chronological context. The research to be conducted at Pech de l'Azé IV is designed to obtain the maximum amount of information concerning the numerous hearth features at the site. Much of this information comes from newly-developed analytical techniques that can determine from the sediment and associated artifacts the temperatures of ancient fires and the fuels used, as well as being able to detect the presence of organic materials. In order to apply these methods, this project will significantly enhance the precision and accuracy of current excavation techniques by removing blocks of intact sediment from the site and excavating it under highly controlled techniques in a laboratory setting. This approach, developed specifically for this project, will allow the researchers to identify individual hearths and to establish geochemical, geophysical, and sedimentological signatures of them that reflect how they were used. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.