Article (Scientific journals)
The Role of Fire in the Life of an Adhesive
Cnuts, Dries; Tomasso, Sonja; Rots, Veerle
2018In Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory, 25 (3), p. 839–862
Peer Reviewed verified by ORBi
 

Files


Full Text
Cnuts et al 2017.pdf
Author postprint (19.89 MB)
Request a copy

All documents in ORBi are protected by a user license.

Send to



Details



Keywords :
Fire; Hafting adhesives; Residues; Palaeolithic; Experimental archaeology
Abstract :
[en] The use of fire is essential for the preparation of hafting adhesives; both are suggested to be a proxy for distinguishing the technological expertise and complex cognition among Palaeolithic populations. While use of fire has been argued to exist from about 1.0 Ma onwards, evidence for adhesives in the Palaeolithic record is rare and fragmented. In spite of the close link between fire places and adhesives, no study has ever focussed on examining the impact of heat on adhesive deposition and preservation. This paper discusses the results of a combustion experiment that was undertaken to understand the impact of heat exposure on hafting adhesives. The results have significant implications for archaeological interpretations. Deposition in or near a fire proves to severely impact the types of residues that preserve on a stone tool. The vertically transferred heat is responsible for the loss of adhesives but also for the incidental production of adhesives and their deposition on stone tools. It can be hypothesised that the rare survival of adhesives on archaeological stone tools might not only be the result of direct contact with the fire but also the result of degradation due to heat from overlying fireplaces. If we are to improve our understanding of the preservation of adhesives, it is important to unstand the taphonomic processes that affect these adhesives, in particular heat alteration.
Research center :
AAP - Art, Archéologie et Patrimoine - ULiège
Disciplines :
Archaeology
Author, co-author :
Cnuts, Dries   ;  Université de Liège - ULiège > Département des sciences historiques > Département des sciences historiques
Tomasso, Sonja  ;  Université de Liège - ULiège > Département des sciences historiques > Archéologie préhistorique
Rots, Veerle  ;  Université de Liège - ULiège > Département des sciences historiques > Archéologie préhistorique
 These authors have contributed equally to this work.
Language :
English
Title :
The Role of Fire in the Life of an Adhesive
Publication date :
September 2018
Journal title :
Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory
ISSN :
1072-5369
Publisher :
Springer Science & Business Media B.V.
Volume :
25
Issue :
3
Pages :
839–862
Peer reviewed :
Peer Reviewed verified by ORBi
European Projects :
FP7 - 312283 - EVO-HAFT - Evolution of stone tool hafting in the Palaeolithic
Name of the research project :
Evohaft
Funders :
CER - Conseil Européen de la Recherche [BE]
CE - Commission Européenne [BE]
Available on ORBi :
since 08 December 2017

Statistics


Number of views
124 (34 by ULiège)
Number of downloads
50 (11 by ULiège)

Scopus citations®
 
24
Scopus citations®
without self-citations
19
OpenCitations
 
20

Bibliography


Similar publications



Contact ORBi