Ancient fires

 

The control of fire by early humans was a critical technology enabling the evolution of early hominids. Fire provides a source of warmth and lighting, protection from predators (especially at night), a way to create hunting tools through burnishing, scorch antler to break, and a method for cooking food whether that was using hot ash, earth ovens or later in prehistory when clay cooking vessels were made. 

Fire has shaped the human journey and is integral in understanding prehistoric life as well as the firecraft which is still yet shaping an equitable role in human existence.

 

Claims for the earliest definitive evidence of control of fire by a member of  Homo range from 1.7 to 2.0 million years ago at various sites in south Africa. Evidence for the "microscopic traces of wood ash" as controlled use of fire by Homo Erectus, beginning roughly 1 million years ago, has wide scholarly support.Some of the earliest known traces of controlled fire were found and dated to ~790,000 years ago At the site, archaeologists also found the oldest likely evidence (mainly, fish teeth that had been heated deep in a cave) for the controlled use of fire to cook food ~780,000 years ago. However, some studies suggest cooking started ~1.8 million years ago.

Firecraft would have been as essential a skill to master as any during prehistoric Britain, If we focus on mesolithic ( middle stone age)  we can draw some similarities to how we view the landscape and the materials that say a deciduous woodland harbours. 

Like us our ancestors in the mesoothic had a deep understanding of the natural world which was likely in addition to a complex cultural wisdoms that made skills such as firecraft more than just a survival skill alone. Fire therefore was intertwined with mesolithic society and played a crucial role in the development of our ancestors life style. 

 

While wooden tools rarely survive the elemental decay of thousands of years beneath our feet, experimental techniques alongside experimental understanding gives us a insight into how fire was made in Britain during the mesolithic. 

 

Friction fire

 

While fire by the way of sparks is often shown as an effective means to ignite fire, the dull sparks that are cast from iron pyrite and flint can be unpredictable. Fire making, even for the experienced outdoors person can be just that if the conditions are not favourable. Yet neither flint nor iron pyrites can be found within the Peak District, so we wanted to explore a method of ancient fires that we could use that favored the landscape that we know. Almost certainly both flint and iron pyrite were items of valued trade and both items made their way from the south of england through the country up to scotland and in some cases beyond that even.

 

Alongside everyday carried items for a mesolithic hunter-gatherer such as a bow, basket, quiver or bag of microliths may have been a friction fire set and a small amount of dry tinder wrapped inside a waterproof container. 

 

Some indigenous hunters today, such as the Hadza of Tnazania waste no time in cooking a meal after a fresh kill, in this instance the ability to ignight a flame quickley is important. The Hadza even today ise a hand drill which can produce a ember in a metter of seconds.

It is quite possible, lilkey even that prehistoric people in Britain the knoiwlage to crfate a friction fire set using native soft, dry wood using flint tools.

 

While tha hand drill favores dry environments, another method of friction firecraft that is arguabley better suited for british woodlands is the Bow drill…

 

The bow drill has a mechanical element that is foud in it’s name; the bow. A set is made up of four components and two sub components. 

 

A bow drill set should include the following: A Hearth board, a drill, a bow with string, a bearing block, an ember pan and some tinder

 

 

To avoid this article becoming a chapter book on friction fires We have on this occasion eleemnated the need to locate and craft a suitable wood type bpw drill set from scratch, that, knowledge we will keep to impartting during our ‘Ancient Fires’ workshop. 

 

There are an assortment of wood types available in Oak woodlands here in the Peak District, many of which already have their own unique qualities that make the trees familiar aquntinces to the woods person. Such as Hazel ( Hazelnuts, catkins, antiseptic inner bark for cooking ) which is the wood type used in this spindle and for the bow arm.

 

The hearth bord can be made of the same wood type as the spindle but for thai occasion we used willow (genus salix) which is softer than Hazel, fast growing and common in wet land areas so likely a wood used for friction fires as well as timber construction during late mesolithic. 

 

Finally, with the bow drill set carved, it would have been important for anyone igniting the fore whether they were in a stationary camp or on the trail to consider the environment, preparing a hearth by brushing away debris and if the wether isnt dry, find shelter, as the friction fire set will not work at all if the hearth bord becomes too moist. 

 

Take a look at this vidoe which shos you how the bow drill works…

 

 

 

 

 

Common Reasons Why Bow-Drill Fails

• Poor material selection – wrong wood; right wood but too hard or too soft;

• Poor carving – spindle must be cylindrical and smooth; hearth mustn’t be too thick or thin;

• Bow is too heavy;

• Bow is too long/short;

• Allowing the hearth to move while drilling;

• Not clamping the bearing-block hand firmly enough;

• Not drilling for long enough;

• Not enough pressure;

• Cordage not tight enough;

• Allowing the ember to disintegrate when placing it in tinder bundle;

• Damp tinder;

• Not enough tinder;

• Not enough contact between ember and tinder;

• Blowing too hard or too softly;

• Wrong attitude!