On the Role of Fire in Neandertal Adaptations in Western Europe: Evidence from Pech de l'Azé and Roc de Marsal, France.

Abstract

Though the earliest evidence for the use of fire is a subject of debate, it is clear that by the late Middle Paleolithic, Neandertals in southwest France were able to use fire. The archaeological record of fire use in this place and time is, however, quite patchy. While there are a growing number of sites with impressive evidence for fire use, there are also a much larger number of sites without such evidence. Based primarily on evidence from two recently excavated well-stratified Middle Paleolithic sites, we argue here that taphonomic issues, sampling bias, or site use are not sufficient explanations to account for the relative lack of evidence for fire. Given that modern hunter-gatherers use fire daily and in a wide variety of circumstances, the prolonged periods of Mousterian occupation without fires, even during some of the harshest conditions of the late Pleistocene, raises significant issues regard-ing the role of fire during these times. In our view, the evidence suggests that Western European Neandertals were not habitual fire users. One explanation advanced here is that at least some Neandertals, even in the late Middle Paleolithic, lacked the technological skill to make fire on demand, and thus relied on access to natural sources of fire.