Traces use of fire in inter-house space of settlements neolithic and paleometal age in Northern Angara region

The article is devoted to the problem of differentiation of traces of burning that are found during field work. Often modern field research is carried out in large areas. As a result, it becomes possible to fix various objects of the inter-housing space. The remains of such pyrotechnic structures as fireplaces and hearths are a significant source of information on the economic activities of the ancient population. The purpose of this study is to classify the traces of burning identified in the inter-housing space of a settlement site of the Neolithic and the Paleometal ages. A database was collected from the materials of 19 archaeological sites, and included 220 traces of burning. These materials were obtained by the Boguchan archaeological expedition, which carried out archaeological research in the flood zone for the reservoir of the Boguchan hydropower plant. A sample of traces of controlled use of fire was extracted from this database. The sample was studied by methods of descriptive statistics such as the conjugate method, geometric morphometry, the principal component method, and others. As a result, four stable forms were distinguished among the entire morphological diversity of the burning traces. Taking for the type-forming sign the shape of the burning trace in the plan, four types of traces of burning were distinguished: trapezoidal, drop-shaped, rounded and elongated. Analysis of the intra-group variability showed that these types are differentiated among themselves according to a number of characteristics: filling power, morphometric parameters, location relative to structures and reservoirs. Plotting on chronological scale allowed to note certain types of burning traces prevailed at certain historical periods in the Northern Angara region. Based on the published data on the paleoclimate situation in the region, it can be concluded that the dynamics of the use of fire in open space depended on the level of humidity and average annual temperatures. The increase in the number of fireplaces falls on the periods for which the arid and warm climate is being reconstructed. For the chronological sampling range, this period falls on segments of 8000-7500, 7000-4000 and 30002000 years ago. Interpretation of these patterns was formulated on the basis of ethnographic materials and on the results of several experimental studies. According to ethnography it is known that the indigenous peoples of Eastern Siberia and the Far North used various fireworks structures depending on the surrounding conditions. Experimental studies show that a certain burning trace on the underlying sediments is characteristic for a certain design. Thus, the morphological diversity of fossil traces of burning is due to the fact that the ancient population used various pyrotechnic structures depending on environmental conditions. Nowadays the problem of obtaining verifiable data remains in the scientific direction concerned with the use of fire in pre-literate periods of history. At the next stage of our work, we will try to solve this problem, attracting researchers of the natural-science and engineering profiles to it.

Keywords

Authors

References