Fig 2 - uploaded by Óscar Fuente
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Occupation zones and excavations in Tito Bustillo Cave (after a figure in Balbín-Behrmann et al., 2016).
Source publication
Aspects of the effects produced by Paleolithic hearths inside caves, apart from the known beneficial uses, are beginning to arouse the interest of archaeological research. For professional firefighters, a fire in a confined space is synonymous with dense smoke, which is the main cause of death in fires. Human exposure to combustion in a cave implie...
Contexts in source publication
Context 1
... in the Middle and Upper Magdalenian, between 14,000 and 12,000 BP (Moure, 1990;Balbín- Behrmann and Alcolea-González, 2007;. This area corresponds to Zone XI (formal sectors); a chamber with a surface area of about 2,500 m 2 (Balbín- Behrmann et al., 2017) where the archaeologists have found evidence of human occupation in three places (Fig. 2). The present study will only concentrate on two of them (A and ...
Context 2
... it. That is to say: Q (flowrate) = S (conduit cross-section) × V (air velocity). The present structural circumstances of the entrance to Tito Bustillo Cave are completely different from their form in the Paleolithic, but the volume of the exchange of air would be the same. With a smaller entrance, such as the artificial access of La Gorgocera (Fig. 5, Point 2), the velocity would increase and with a larger entrance, it would decrease. Thus, in winter, the volume of exchanged flow at that sampling point is 1.02 m 3 /s of cold air entering and 2.12 m 3 /s of temperate air exiting. When the outside and inside temperatures are similar, the flow is 1.19 m 3 /s entering and 1.40 m 3 /s exiting, ...
Citations
... But the restrictions on activating light sources in these locations would have required careful management that considered both the type of activity and the cave structure. Additional harmful effects produced by the use of pyrotechnology in caves with rock art (apart from the HRR) should also be considered, such as the emission of gases and the reduction of oxygen (Kedar et al., 2020;Kedar et al., 2021;Fuente-Fernandez, 2022). As one moves through the cave carrying a torch, the heat does not accumulate in one location. ...
Analysis of lighting system management in Upper Paleolithic decorated caves is crucial to our understanding of the light sources used to create and observe depictions created deep in the interior halls. We developed a novel method for analyzing the environmental effects of the different light systems used in Upper Paleolithic caves. Our method uses a computer simulation to analyze the interplay between fire intensity, cave hall structure, and internal environmental conditions. We show that the potential for fire use in the deep interior halls is limited due to the dangerous conditions produced by the increase in environmental temperature combined with the cave's natural high humidity. To avoid serious heat-related illnesses such as heat stroke, careful management of the light system would be required. We identified cave opening height as the primary factor determining the safety parameters for human activity. We thus conclude that depictions located in deep, dark halls with a small entrance height must have been created using minimal artificial light.
... The hearths of Tito Bustillo (Ribadesella, Asturias, Spain)", in which its author, Ó scar Fuente-Fernández, describes experimentation on the combustion of hearths inside a cave and based on the results, analyses the characteristics of the Dwelling Area in Tito Bustillo Cave. He postulates that any fire must have been near the original entrance of the cave for the air to be breathable with a lit hearth (Fuente-Fernández, 2022). ...
The use and control of fire is arguably one of the most important technological advancements of the Homo genus.
Prehistoric populations exploit the combustion properties of fires (light, heat and smoke) for daily tasks such as
food preparation, insect repellent, extension of daylight hours and modification of technology. The habitual use
of fire can however lead to significant health implications through sustained exposure to smoke which can affect
air quality resulting in respiratory complications. While smoke is often an important tool in hunter-gatherer
activities such as smoking meats, curing hides, accessing highly prized food items’ such as honey and as an
insect repellent, to date, little research has been conducted on the actual levels of exposure to harmful toxins
contained in smoke that Palaeolithic hunter-gatherers would have been exposed to during their daily lives. In this
paper, we present a new methodological protocol for future studies wishing to examine the effects of smoke from
open fires on air quality, human health and habitability in the Palaeolithic using environmental monitoring
systems. We present the first systematic study of concentration levels of harmful particulate matter (PM2.5) in
smoke relative to the use of other combustion properties of fires (light, smoke and radiative heat) from a wide
range of fuels used in Palaeolithic fireplaces, recording different types of fires (smoking, glowing and flaming)
and activity types (smoking food items, sleeping and cooking). Our empirical findings highlight significant
variability in light and heat output, as well as concentrations of harmful particulate matter in smoke (PM2.5). We
argue that this variation and the aim to minimise exposure to the harmful elements of smoke, likely influenced
the placement of fixed fire features in habitation spaces whether open, semi-open and closed (outdoors, rock
shelters, caves, huts and houses) relative to the use of combustion properties. Our results also show how human�environment interactions around fire, fuel and habitability (air quality) may have changed over time in some
living structures from the Palaeolithic through to later time periods (Neolithic and Iron Age)
