An insight into Late Glacial fire-making toolkits

Two chert strike-a-lights at Le Colombier II rock shelter (Ardèche, France)

Datos Bibliográficos

ID6433281
AutoresEugénie Gauvrit Roux (0000-0002-5298-6815, autor de correspondencia), Pierre‐antoine Beauvais (University of Cape Town), Pierre-Antoine Beauvais (0009-0003-0673-198X), Mikaël Guiavarc'H (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique), Mikaël Guiavarc’h, Alain Moréac (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique), Simon Puaud (0009-0002-9954-2303, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique)
Año2025
Volumen69
Páginas105528-105528
Fecha de publicación2025-12-03
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaJournal of Archaeological Science Reports (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 2352-409X • E-ISSN: 2352-4103
EditorialElsevier BV (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1016/j.jasrep.2025.105528
OpenAlexW4416931407
IdiomaEN
Referencias citadas41

While evidence of the daily use of fire during the Paleolithic is abundantly represented by hearth features, charcoals, or burnt faunal and lithic remains, west European fire-making tools are widely unknown. Specific traditions, however, yield quite often chert strike-a-light tools, and allow a glimpse into a very long technical history: these include the Mousterian of Acheulian Tradition in southwestern France and the Late Glacial in northern Europe. This study presents two specimens of chert strike-a-lights with use-wear and residues from Le Colombier II rock shelter (Ardèche, southern France) dated to the Upper Magdalenian period. This multi-proxy analysis combined traceological, petro-archaeological, and chemicophysical analysis (Raman spectroscopy and SEM-EDS). Results show that the residues correspond to a sulphuric iron such as pyrite (FeS 2 ) altered to hematite (Fe 2 O 3 ), with partial loss of the sulphur component due to alteration processes like pseudomorphosis or perimorphosis. The causes of residue alteration can include water circulation, pH, and biological activity. While the Late Glacial archaeological record suggested that southern France was nearly devoid of chert strike-a-lights, the specimens from Le Colombier II prove otherwise. Extended comparisons allow us to question the scarcity of Paleolithic strike-a-lights in Europe and the reality of a pyrotechnical shift during the Late Glacial period. This study contributes to reconstructing the long and non-linear history of fire-making toolkits, which are essential in cold environments but for which evidence is so rare for the Ice Ages.

Absolute dating · Glacial period · Rock art · Rock magnetism · Rock shelter · Building materials and conservation · Geology and Paleoclimatology Research · Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology