Around the hearth

Use, production and control of fire

The use and subsequent control of fire took place via repeated coexistence with natural resources. At an early stage, fire was stolen from nature thanks to weather phenomena, for example. The second stage consisted in controlling it, as well as producing their own fires using different techniques, which there is proof of in Europe since the middle Palaeolithic.

The fire, the hearth, became the space where light was created, and therefore it became the centre of life, which we have maintained for millennia. Fire is synonymous with food, protection, domestication, socialisation and storytelling.

Materials used to produce fire

Flint and sulphur minerals: Flint is very hard, and sulphur minerals contribute their ability to produce extremely hot sparks. The latter tends to be pyrite and marcasite, which are very common elements made of iron and sulphur. These materials are the perfect choice for creating the hot sparks needed to start fires using the percussion technique.

Tinder: This is very dry material prepared so that any spark can light it on fire. For this purpose, certain dried fungi, straw or even manure can be used. Of the three, a particular kind of dried fungus known as tinder fungus was particularly important, as its filaments allows fire to be preserved and transported once it has been produced. It grows on different kinds of trees (like willows, beeches, oaks, holm oaks and birches) by attaching to their trunks, and it grows larger than other fungi with similar features.

Wood: The technique of lighting fires by rotating friction entails a rotational movement manoeuvre in which sticks of orange, laurel or beech wood are used, while soft wood is used for the small pieces of wood, such as poplar.

Bone marrow: This is the whitish substance that comes from inside animal bones. Its consistency is gelatinous, and its characteristics make it the ideal fuel for lamps. Bovine leg bones were usually used because of the large amount of bone marrow they contain.

Illumination systems

One of the benefits of fire is that it allows human beings to adapt to underground environments where light can’t reach, and where we find some of the most important artistic expressions. There were essentially two portable illumination systems:

Wooden torches: Only useful in ventilated spaces because they produce quite a bit of smoke. They are based on a wooden structure with a combustible element.

Bone marrow lamps: Appropriate for small and poorly ventilated spaces because they produce almost no smoke. They consist in a shell or hollowed-out stone with a wick made of plant matter or even a dried tendon, and with bone marrow or other fatty material as the fuel.