Publication Date:
2017-04-12
Description:
A fire drilling tool was a vital piece of equipment in ancient times for creating fire, and an understanding of the shape of ancient fire drills, the different ways of wood drilling and the strategy of wood selection are of great importance for studying past societies. Due to poor environmental conditions, equipment associated with the making of fire is rarely preserved at archaeological sites in China, and the anatomical characters of these wooden tools have never been investigated. However, the Turpan District in Xinjiang, China is characterized by year-round drought conditions, which provide us with well-preserved plant remains for studying the types of plants used for making fire drills. In the present work, 12 fire drilling tools from ten tombs of the Yanghai cemetery (c.1000 bc – ad 100) were studied. These fire drilling tools were identified as having been made from the wood of Picea sp., Salix sp., Populus sp., Clematis sp. or Aristolochia sp., with the former four taxa native to the local area. The anatomical characteristics of the wood suggest that all of these selected wood types were suitable for use in fire drills. In addition, among the different kinds of fire drilling methods, we found that hand drilling was the main method used by the ancient Yanghai inhabitants and that fire drills played an important part in their pastoral life.
Print ISSN:
0939-6314
Electronic ISSN:
1617-6278
Topics:
Archaeology
,
Biology
