Where’s the Fire? Detection of Combustions Features and Analysis of Hearth-Centered Activity Areas with Lithic Analysis from the Aurignacian in Šalitrena pećina, Serbia

Abstract

One of the important aspects of human life during prehistory was fire. However, in situ detection of combustion features in Paleolithic sites can sometimes be difficult because of post-depositional processes and the geology of the site. Excavation techniques can also reduce the visibility of combustion features. It has been demonstrated that sometimes when evidence of fire is missing from the sediments, the spatial distribution of the burnt artifacts can be used to detect the position of combustion features. In an effort to better understand fire use behavior in Aurignacian communities, we studied Aurignacian layers from Salitrena pecina. During excavations, two combustion features were detected. First goal of this paper was to analyze the spatial distribution of burnt lithics to confirm the identification of these combustion features and to identify other combustion features that may have had a smaller imprint in archeological matrix. This method was useful, and beside two already mentioned, one more combustion feature was detected in the Aurignacian layer. A second major goal was to understand technological behavior around combustion features.