Examining Fuel Use in Antiquity: Archaeobotanical and Anthracological Approaches in Southwest Asia
Abstract
This article considers the study of wood and dung fuel use in antiquity across Southwest Asia by anthracologists and archaeobotanists. In recent years, the socially conditioned nature of fuel use has been highlighted and many scholars are stressing the central importance of fuel to pre-modern societies as on par with subsistence and tool use. By elevating and unifying the study of ancient fuel through anthracological, archaeobotanical, geochemical, and micromorphological studies, detailed insights into cultural practices, decision making, and resource use in the past can be gained. We provide a brief review of studies examining ancient fuel use and reflect on the integration of wood and seed data where seed assemblages are indicative of dung fuel use.
References
Asouti, E., and P. Austin. 2005. Reconstructing Vegetation and its Exploitation by Past Societies, based on the Analysis and Interpretation of Archaeological Wood Charcoal Macro-remains. Environmental Archaeology 10:1–18. Doi:10.1179/env.2005.10.1.1.
Braadbaart, F., I. Poole, H. D. J. Huisman, and B. van Os. 2012. Fuel, Fire and Heat: An Experimental Approach to Highlight the Potential of Studying Ash and Char Remains from Archaeological Contexts. Journal of Archaeological Science 39:836–847. Doi:10.1016/j.jas.2011.10.009.
Chabal, L. 1997. Forêts et Sociétés en Languedoc (Néolithique final, Antiquité tardive): l'Anthracologie, Méthode et Paléoécologie. Maison des Sciences de l’Homme, Paris, France.
Charles, M. 1998. Fodder from Dung: The Recognition and Interpretation of Dung-Derived Plant Material from Archaeological Sites. Environmental Archaeology 1:111–122. Doi:10.1179/env.1996.1.1.111.
Deckers, K. 2011. The “Dung-as-Fuel” Model Tested at Two Syrian Jezirah Sites. In Holocene Landscapes through Time in the Fertile Crescent, Subartu 28, edited by K. Deckers, pp. 143–156. Brepols, Turnhout, Belgium.
Deckers, K., and S. Riehl. 2007. An Evaluation of Botanical Assemblages from the 3rd to 2nd Millennium BC in Northeastern Syria. Varia Anatolica 19:481–502.
Henry, A., and I. Théry-Parisot. 2014. From Evenk Campfires to Prehistoric Hearths: Charcoal Analysis as a Tool for Identifying the Use of Rotten Wood as Fuel. Journal of Archaeological Science 52:321–336. Doi:10.1016/j.jas.2014.09.005.
Jones, G. E. M. 1984. Interpretation of Archaeological Plant Remains: Ethnographic Models from Greece. In Plants and Ancient Man: Studies in Palaeoethnobotany, edited by W. van Zeist and W. A. Casparie, pp. 43–61. Balkema, Rotterdam, the Netherlands.
Matthews, W. 2010. Geoarchaeology and Taphonomy of Plant Remains and Microarchaeological Residues in Early Urban Environments in the Ancient Near East. Quaternary International 214:98–113. Doi:10.1016/j.quaint.2009.10.019.
Miller, N. F., and J. M. Marston. 2012. Archaeological Fuel Remains as Indicators of Ancient West Asia Agropastoral and Land-use Systems. Journal of Arid Environments 86:97–103. Doi:10.1016/j.jaridenv.2011.11.021.
Miller, N. F., and T. L. Smart. 1984. Intentional Burning of Dung as Fuel: A Mechanism for the Incorporation of Charred Seeds into the Archeological Record. Journal of Ethnobiology 4:15–28.
Picornell Gelabert, L., E. Asouti, and E. Allué Martí. 2011. The Ethnoarchaeology of Firewood Management in the Fang Village of Equatorial Guinea, Central Africa: Implications for the Interpretation of Wood Fuel Remains from Archaeological Sites. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 30:375–384. Doi:10.1016/j.jaa.2011.05.002.
Théry-Parisot, I., L. Chabal, and J. Chrzavzez. 2010. Anthracology and Taphonomy, from Wood Gathering to Charcoal Analysis. A Review of the Taphonomic Processes Modifying Charcoal Assemblages, in Archaeological Contexts. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 291:142–153. Doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2009.09.016.
Théry-Parisot, I., S. Costamagno, J. P. Brugal, P. Fosse, and R. Guilbert. 2005. The Use of Bone as Fuel during the Paleolithic, Experimental Study of Bone Combustibe Properties. In The Zooarchaeology of Fats, Oils, Milk and Dairying. Proceedings of the 9th Conference of the International Council of Archaeozoology, Durham, August 2002, edited by J. Mulville and A. K. Outram, pp. 50–59. Oxbow Books, Oxford, United Kingdom.
Veal, R. 2013. Fuelling Ancient Mediterranean Cities: A Framework for Charcoal Research. In The Ancient Mediterranean Environment between Science and History, edited by W. V. Harris, pp. 37–58. Brill, Leiden, the Netherlands.
Copyright (c) 2015 Ethnobiology Letters
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain ownership of the copyright for their content and grant Ethnobiology Letters (the “Journal”) and the Society of Ethnobiology right of first publication. Authors and the Journal agree that Ethnobiology Letters will publish the article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International Public License (CC BY-NC 4.0), which permits others to use, distribute, and reproduce the work non-commercially, provided the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal are properly cited.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
For any reuse or redistribution of a work, users must make clear the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International Public License (CC BY-NC 4.0).
In publishing with Ethnobiology Letters corresponding authors certify that they are authorized by their co-authors to enter into these arrangements. They warrant, on behalf of themselves and their co-authors, that the content is original, has not been formally published, is not under consideration, and does not infringe any existing copyright or any other third party rights. They further warrant that the material contains no matter that is scandalous, obscene, libelous, or otherwise contrary to the law.
Corresponding authors will be given an opportunity to read and correct edited proofs, but if they fail to return such corrections by the date set by the editors, production and publication may proceed without the authors’ approval of the edited proofs.