Braadbaart F, van Brussel Ton, van Os Bertil, Eijskoot Yurie
Faculty of Archaeology, Leiden University, The Netherlands.
Faculty of Science, Institute of Biology, Leiden University, The Netherlands.
Holocene. 2017 Nov;27(11):1682-1693. doi: 10.1177/0959683617702231. Epub 2017 Apr 27.
In the archaeological record, ash and charred organic material are the only indications of the type of fuel used by ancient societies to feed their fires. This potential source of information may help further understanding of past human behaviour in relation to fuel selection, applied type of fire and function of fires lit in hearths. This study examined ash from reference samples and ash and char samples recovered from an Iron Age peatland site in Vlaardingen, the Netherlands. Local availability and abundance made it possible for the occupants of the site to choose from different fuel resources. Peat and cattle dung were readily available, while wood was less abundant. Reference samples from various locations were collected to investigate the properties of ash. Different types of wood, peat and cattle dung were accordingly ashed and analysed. In total, two techniques were used, that is, chemical analyses (x-ray fluorescence (XRF)) for the determination of the elemental composition and microscopic studies on field images of these ashes, mounted on glass slides, to investigate phytoliths quantitatively (Si and Ca types), siliceous aggregates and spherulites. The properties of the archaeological samples were compared with these results. The archaeological char samples were used for identification and analysed using reflective microscopy to study structure and temperature by reflectance (%Ro). It provided the necessary information to determine the type of fuel used by the Iron Age farmers and obtain more information on the function of the present fire structures. The results are strong indications that Iron Age farmers used all available fuels, that is, peat, cattle dung and wood, to feed their fires. The integrated application of phytolith, geochemical and char analyses has a high potential for the identification of the fuel selected by ancient societies.
在考古记录中，灰烬和烧焦的有机物质是古代社会用于生火的燃料类型的唯一指示物。这一潜在的信息来源可能有助于进一步了解过去人类在燃料选择、所使用的火的类型以及在炉灶中生火的功能等方面的行为。本研究检测了参考样本的灰烬以及从荷兰弗拉尔丁根的一个铁器时代泥炭地遗址采集的灰烬和烧焦样本。当地燃料的可得性和丰富程度使该遗址的居住者能够从不同的燃料资源中进行选择。泥炭和牛粪很容易获得，而木材则相对较少。收集了来自不同地点的参考样本以研究灰烬的特性。相应地，对不同类型的木材、泥炭和牛粪进行了灰化和分析。总共使用了两种技术，即化学分析（X射线荧光光谱法（XRF））来测定元素组成，以及对安装在载玻片上的这些灰烬的现场图像进行显微镜研究，以定量研究植硅体（硅和钙类型）、硅质聚集体和球粒。将考古样本的特性与这些结果进行了比较。考古烧焦样本用于识别，并使用反射显微镜进行分析，以通过反射率（%Ro）研究结构和温度。它提供了必要的信息，以确定铁器时代农民所使用的燃料类型，并获取有关当前火塘结构功能的更多信息。结果有力地表明，铁器时代的农民使用了所有可得的燃料，即泥炭、牛粪和木材来生火。植硅体、地球化学和烧焦分析的综合应用在识别古代社会选择的燃料方面具有很大潜力。
