10. Fire as a Component of Mesolithic Funerary Rituals: Charcoal analyses from a burial in Cabeço da Amoreira (Muge, Portugal)
Abstract
A female burial was discovered in Cabeço da Amoreira (Muge shellmiddens) during the 2011 excavation season. This paper presents the charcoal analyses carried out on the charred remains found next to the skeleton, which may help us understand if there was some intention behind the charcoal deposits; primarily using fire as part of the funerary ritual. The results show a predominance of tree wood, especially pine (Pinus tp. sylvestris, Pinus pinaster, Pinus pinea). Compared with other environmental data, the charcoal remains from the burial seem to reveal selection of specific wood for this particular context.
Introduction
The economic and social aspect of fire for human societies is easily attested to by the activities linked to, and benefits provided by, the use of this resource, ranging from gathering wood for fuel, to the use of fire for aiding in food processing, lithic knapping, the production of light and heat, and deforestation. In this paper the role of fire will be presented not only in terms of economic matters, but also its contribution to funerary practices during the Mesolithic in Cabeço da Amoreira, based on charcoal analyses from a burial discovered in 2011.
Cabeço da Amoreira is part of the Muge shellmiddens complex in Tagus valley, Santarém, 60 km from Lisbon (Figure 10.1) and is dated to from 8100 to 7500 cal. BP (a table with radiocarbon dates is published in Bicho et al. 2012). The site was discovered in 1863 by Carlos Ribeiro and, since then, several archaeological teams have been excavating there (Corrêa 1933; Ribeiro 1884; Roche and Veiga Ferreira 1967; Rolão and Cardoso 1999/2000). More than 300 skeletons have been found in the Muge shellmiddens since its discovery. Although Cabeço da Amoreira could be considered one of the most studied sites from the Mesolithic in Portugal, the work carried out during the nineteenth century and first half of the twentieth century provided limited information and the methodology applied was sometimes problematic, with incomplete and partial recovery compared to nowadays. This point came to be very important in the specific case of the burials, since a lot of information exists about the skeletons from physical anthropological analysis, but not about the funerary context itself (Figueiredo 2012). During the 1990s, a multidisciplinary team lead by José Rolão (Universidade Autónoma de Lisboa) started new excavations in Cabeço da Amoreira. Some important work related to palaeoecological analysis (geomorphological, pollen and charcoal analysis) by T. Van Schriek and team (University of Newcastle, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid e Universidade Autónoma de Lisboa) in the Muge valley was carried out, which was more concerned with the role of the landscape to produce an understanding of the surroundings of Cabeço da Amoreira (Shriek et al. 2008; Wollstonecroft et al. 2006).
In 2008, a team lead by one of the authors (N.B.) started investigations with a new aim: to understand the subsistence and social complexity of the Mesolithic societies of Muge. This new project involves interdisciplinary studies that help to understand the Mesolithic society of Cabeço da Amoreira through lithic analyses, zooarchaeology, archaeobotany, physical anthropology, DNA analysis, and GIS (Geographical Information System), among others (Bicho et al. 2010; Detry 2007; Dias et al. in press; Monteiro 2012; Umbelino 2006). Excavation is based on 3D plotting of every piece larger than 2 cm using a total station, allowing very precise information about the provenience of materials and the relation between layers (Bicho et al. 2011). This way, upon discovering the burial of a female skeleton in 2011, dated from c. 7600 cal. BP (Bicho et al. 2013), it was possible to identify several well preserved layers of shells, animal bones, and lithics that covered the body (Figure 10.2). Charcoal fragments were found scattered in these layers, mixed with the shells that formed the matrix. The matrix of shells is different between the burial and the rest of shellmidden area, which was one of the ways used to delimit the burial context (Scrobicularia plana forms the matrix in the burial with presence of Cerastoderma edule, while the reverse occurs in rest of the midden). The provenance of the charcoal is frequently difficult to determine; the primary deposition most of the time could only be caused by a combustion structure or similar. Nevertheless, in the case of the female burial, we have reason to believe that charcoal was brought in to the context and was not introduced by casual deposition, as there is no evidence of disturbance of the layers, and those that cover the skeleton, along with the skeleton itself, appear defined and intact. This leads us to assume that the charcoal came from a purposeful disposal as part of the burial. However, even though the burial presents clear evidence of some kind of funerary ritual, it might be risky to consider the use of fire in situ with ritual purposes, as there is no indication of burnt materials that might suggest a conflagration. Thus, charcoal analysis could be an important method of ascertaining which vegetal species were present, or might have been used in this context and whether some kind of selection bias was present.
Figure 10.1. Map of the Muge Valley, where the Muge shellmiddens are located.
Figure 10.2. The Cabeço da Amoreira shellmidden.
Materials and methods
This study of fire in funerary rituals is based on charcoal analyses from burial number 2. Charcoal fragments were recovered by flotation, the recommended method for recovering of paleobotany remains (Alonso et al. 2003), and fragments larger than 2 cm were plotted to assure their spatial distribution. The burial occupied four squares within the excavation area: I5, I6, H5 and H6. The same amount of sediment was retrieved from each square for flotation; approx. 900 litres. The smaller pieces of charcoal came from around the head the skeleton.
Figure 10.3. Results from the charcoal analyses from Burial 2.
Table 10.1. Results from the charcoal analyses. Identified taxa from Burial 2.
After laboratory processing, a total of 733 charcoal fragments larger than 2 mm were separated for analyses. All the charcoal fragments were observed in the three main sections (transversal, longitudinal tangential and longitudinal radial) to identify the species using a reflected light microscope. The species identification was made by comparison with a reference collection of modern charcoal and wood anatomy atlases (Garcia Esteban, 2002; Schweingruber, 1990; Vernet et al. 2001).
Results
From the 733 charcoal fragments observed the following species were identified: Pinus cf. pinaster, Pinus tp. sylvestris, Quercus subg. Quercus, Quercus ilex/coccifera and Arbutus unedo. Table 10.1 displays the representation of each taxon in the assemblage. Pine is clearly the most abundant, with a total of 91%. Angiosperms represent 9% of the sample, corresponding to a total of only 60 fragments. As we observed the spatial distribution of the materials, it is interesting to present the data from each of the squares that make up the burial (Figure 10.3). There is no significant difference between each square. Even so, a slight distinction could be noted in the distribution of Quercus. This species is present in every square, but evergreen Quercus is represented in higher quantities in H5, while in I5 and H6 more deciduous Quercus is present. The presence of Arbutus unedo records the only example of bush wood within the assemblage, with one single fragment in square H5.
Figure 10.4. Pollen diagram based on a core from the Muge Valley bottom (after Schriek et al. 2008).
Discussion
Paleoenvironmental data from previous studies, such as pollen and charcoal analyses (Monteiro 2012; Van der Schriek et al. 2008; Wollstonecroft et al. 2006), that could provide paleoecological and subsistence information, are fundamental tools to provide a comparison with our present data, and for further interpretation. The main results of these studies will be presented here to compare with the charcoal from the burial.
The pollen diagram by Franco Mugica (in Schriek et al. 2008, 145, see Figure 10.4), based on the analysis of a core from the Muge valley bottom, reveals an open landscape between 8000 and 6000 cal. BP (corresponding to pollen zone 2). Pollen zone 2 is contemporary with the burial under study and is composed mostly of shrub vegetation, with some tree vegetation (Pinus, deciduous and evergreen Quercus and Alnus). Although this data displays a variety of available shrubs, in the charcoal results this type of wood is not predominant. In fact, the only evidence of bushes is from a fragment of Arbutus unedo, which, although a shrub, can reach the size of a tree. The relevance of tree wood in this context, within an environment rich in other sources of wood, especially from shrubs, might indicate preferential selection of wood.
Figure 10.5. Plan showing the extent of excavations across Cabeço da Amoreira where charcoal analyses have been carried out.
The same happens in other contexts from Cabeço da Amoreira where charcoal analyses have been carried out (Figure 10.5). The charcoal from the North profile and the shellmidden area with scattered origins present similar results. Based on the assumption that charcoal results from a human interaction with the environment and partially reflects a social characteristic of human activity, we might better understand the selection of some of the available wood species in the Muge landscape. The predominance of Pinus and presence of evergreen and deciduous Quercus in all of the contexts studied indicates a possible preference for this kind of wood. This hypothesis is also supported by the efficiency of using the wood of both species together, due to pine’s property of being easy to burn and oak’s characteristic of maintaining a fire.
Comparing the two different contexts (one funerary, the other contemporary and non-funerary), there is a distinction between the results through the appearance of a rare species within the charcoal, the wood from the wild strawberry bush, Arbutus unedo, and by the significance of Pinus tp. Sylvestris within the burial. Pinus tp. sylvestris is frequently associated with colder environments. In the Holocene this species had begun to decline with the arrival of more thermophilous species such as Quercus. In Figure 10.4 it is possible to see the relevance of each pine species represented. The importance of Pinus tp. sylvestris in the burial, with 131 charcoal fragments (61% of the total), is clearly displayed. Using the strawberry tree (Arbutus unedo) for its fruit can be considered, but the fact that there is only one fragment, as well as the unclear question of the charcoal’s deposition, does not allow for confirmation of this hypothesis. The choice of a specific type of wood as fuel for this funerary context is one hypothesis that can be reinforced only by the results from Cabeço da Amoreira, and the differences between contexts. Despite the fact that preservation of the burial and the lithics, fauna, and adornments that covered the skeleton, which are still under study, might lead us to think that the charcoal remains were also part of the funerary ritual, we must note that the charcoal deposition process is more complex than for other materials. Even if it is not possible to assume the existence of a fire in situ, we believe that, since the deposition of layers appears undisturbed, the charcoal within might have been a secondary deposition. This also seems to be confirmed by the differences in species, as well as their relative importance, when compared to the rest of the samples. In this case, charcoal analyses are necessary for helping clarify this occurrence.
Conclusions
The charcoal analyses of the remains from the burial reveal the presence of the following species: Pinus tp. sylvestris, Pinus pinaster, Quercus ilex/Q. coccifera, Quercus subg. Quercus and Arbutus unedo. These taxa also appear in other contexts within Cabeço da Amoreira, though in different frequencies. The only exception is the wild strawberry tree (Arbutus unedo) present in the burial.
Even if is too early to assume that these results are evidence of purposeful selection of specific types of wood for the funerary ritual, it is interesting to verify the differences in the contexts studied and consider the total absence of Arbutus unedo in other areas of the shellmidden, as well as the significance of a less frequent species in within the landscape. However, the absence of Arbutus unedo is based on around 1000 charcoal fragments from two other non-funerary contexts from Cabeço da Amoreira. Therefore, only further charcoal analysis from different areas of the shellmidden, whose chronology and context are well defined, can provide more information that is able to help us understand the importance of fire in these contexts.
The intentional use of fire could not be absolutely confirmed, but, based on the available plant resources in the Muge valley landscape at the time of the burial, it seems that a few specific types of wood are present in the funerary context. The same happens for other contexts within the shellmidden, but, even when compared, this burial presents some distinctions from the non-funerary contexts, notably the predominance of Pinus tp. sylvestris and presence of the wild strawberry. This fact, together with the evidence of funerary ritual, makes us consider the hypothetical use of specific types of wood, with special properties for burning, within this burial. To be confirmed, this hypothesis needs further investigation. More charcoal and other archaeological analyses need to be carried out for the different contexts of Cabeço da Amoreira, which will help us understand more about the role of fire within Mesolithic society.
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