This survey chapter discusses the use of ash and other fire-generated materials in Ancestral Pueblo settlements in the northern Rio Grande region. The author begins by surveying ethnographic reports of ash use among indigenous groups in the Southwest and Great Basin regions to understand the potential reasons for ash use in prehistoric contexts beyond just cooking. He then turns to archaeological data to explore the extensive use of fire, ash, and other pyrotechnic products across indigenous communities in the region, focusing on excavated architectural and mortuary contexts from the northern Rio Grande, especially the Taos and Picuris areas. The author argues that these fire-related actions and products show that ash plays two major roles -- it is used as a part of major transition ceremonies and as an instrument for healing. The author concludes that these ethnographic observations inform and illuminate archaeological contexts that contain ash, charcoal, and fire.

This survey chapter discusses the use of ash and other fire-generated materials in Ancestral Pueblo settlements in the northern Rio Grande region. The author begins by surveying ethnographic reports of ash use among indigenous groups in the Southwest and Great Basin regions to understand the potential reasons for ash use in prehistoric contexts beyond just cooking. He then turns to archaeological data to explore the extensive use of fire, ash, and other pyrotechnic products across indigenous communities in the region, focusing on excavated architectural and mortuary contexts from the northern Rio Grande, especially the Taos and Picuris areas. The author argues that these fire-related actions and products show that ash plays two major roles -- it is used as a part of major transition ceremonies and as an instrument for healing. The author concludes that these ethnographic observations inform and illuminate archaeological contexts that contain ash, charcoal, and fire.

This survey chapter discusses the use of ash and other fire-generated materials in Ancestral Pueblo settlements in the northern Rio Grande region. The author begins by surveying ethnographic reports of ash use among indigenous groups in the Southwest and Great Basin regions to understand the potential reasons for ash use in prehistoric contexts beyond just cooking. He then turns to archaeological data to explore the extensive use of fire, ash, and other pyrotechnic products across indigenous communities in the region, focusing on excavated architectural and mortuary contexts from the northern Rio Grande, especially the Taos and Picuris areas. The author argues that these fire-related actions and products show that ash plays two major roles -- it is used as a part of major transition ceremonies and as an instrument for healing. The author concludes that these ethnographic observations inform and illuminate archaeological contexts that contain ash, charcoal, and fire.

This survey chapter discusses the use of ash and other fire-generated materials in Ancestral Pueblo settlements in the northern Rio Grande region. The author begins by surveying ethnographic reports of ash use among indigenous groups in the Southwest and Great Basin regions to understand the potential reasons for ash use in prehistoric contexts beyond just cooking. He then turns to archaeological data to explore the extensive use of fire, ash, and other pyrotechnic products across indigenous communities in the region, focusing on excavated architectural and mortuary contexts from the northern Rio Grande, especially the Taos and Picuris areas. The author argues that these fire-related actions and products show that ash plays two major roles -- it is used as a part of major transition ceremonies and as an instrument for healing. The author concludes that these ethnographic observations inform and illuminate archaeological contexts that contain ash, charcoal, and fire.

This survey chapter discusses the use of ash and other fire-generated materials in Ancestral Pueblo settlements in the northern Rio Grande region. The author begins by surveying ethnographic reports of ash use among indigenous groups in the Southwest and Great Basin regions to understand the potential reasons for ash use in prehistoric contexts beyond just cooking. He then turns to archaeological data to explore the extensive use of fire, ash, and other pyrotechnic products across indigenous communities in the region, focusing on excavated architectural and mortuary contexts from the northern Rio Grande, especially the Taos and Picuris areas. The author argues that these fire-related actions and products show that ash plays two major roles -- it is used as a part of major transition ceremonies and as an instrument for healing. The author concludes that these ethnographic observations inform and illuminate archaeological contexts that contain ash, charcoal, and fire.

This survey chapter discusses the use of ash and other fire-generated materials in Ancestral Pueblo settlements in the northern Rio Grande region. The author begins by surveying ethnographic reports of ash use among indigenous groups in the Southwest and Great Basin regions to understand the potential reasons for ash use in prehistoric contexts beyond just cooking. He then turns to archaeological data to explore the extensive use of fire, ash, and other pyrotechnic products across indigenous communities in the region, focusing on excavated architectural and mortuary contexts from the northern Rio Grande, especially the Taos and Picuris areas. The author argues that these fire-related actions and products show that ash plays two major roles -- it is used as a part of major transition ceremonies and as an instrument for healing. The author concludes that these ethnographic observations inform and illuminate archaeological contexts that contain ash, charcoal, and fire.

This survey chapter discusses the use of ash and other fire-generated materials in Ancestral Pueblo settlements in the northern Rio Grande region. The author begins by surveying ethnographic reports of ash use among indigenous groups in the Southwest and Great Basin regions to understand the potential reasons for ash use in prehistoric contexts beyond just cooking. He then turns to archaeological data to explore the extensive use of fire, ash, and other pyrotechnic products across indigenous communities in the region, focusing on excavated architectural and mortuary contexts from the northern Rio Grande, especially the Taos and Picuris areas. The author argues that these fire-related actions and products show that ash plays two major roles -- it is used as a part of major transition ceremonies and as an instrument for healing. The author concludes that these ethnographic observations inform and illuminate archaeological contexts that contain ash, charcoal, and fire.

This survey chapter discusses the use of ash and other fire-generated materials in Ancestral Pueblo settlements in the northern Rio Grande region. The author begins by surveying ethnographic reports of ash use among indigenous groups in the Southwest and Great Basin regions to understand the potential reasons for ash use in prehistoric contexts beyond just cooking. He then turns to archaeological data to explore the extensive use of fire, ash, and other pyrotechnic products across indigenous communities in the region, focusing on excavated architectural and mortuary contexts from the northern Rio Grande, especially the Taos and Picuris areas. The author argues that these fire-related actions and products show that ash plays two major roles -- it is used as a part of major transition ceremonies and as an instrument for healing. The author concludes that these ethnographic observations inform and illuminate archaeological contexts that contain ash, charcoal, and fire.

This survey chapter discusses the use of ash and other fire-generated materials in Ancestral Pueblo settlements in the northern Rio Grande region. The author begins by surveying ethnographic reports of ash use among indigenous groups in the Southwest and Great Basin regions to understand the potential reasons for ash use in prehistoric contexts beyond just cooking. He then turns to archaeological data to explore the extensive use of fire, ash, and other pyrotechnic products across indigenous communities in the region, focusing on excavated architectural and mortuary contexts from the northern Rio Grande, especially the Taos and Picuris areas. The author argues that these fire-related actions and products show that ash plays two major roles -- it is used as a part of major transition ceremonies and as an instrument for healing. The author concludes that these ethnographic observations inform and illuminate archaeological contexts that contain ash, charcoal, and fire.

This study analyzed fire use in 93 hunter-gatherer groups based on ethnographic texts from eHRAF in order to improve our understanding of early hominin fire use. The researchers collected data on the groups' methods of making fire, the ways they used fire, and when and where they created fires. The study found that some groups either did not know how to make fire using traditional methods or had very few members who knew how to use such methods. The study also found that many groups preferred to preserve fire rather than create it anew, even carrying it between camps. Beyond this, the ways in which fire was created and used varied widely between hunter-gatherer groups. These findings have implications for understanding early pyrotechnology and the interpretation of the presence or absence of fire residues in the Palaeolithic archaeological record. The results suggest that the absence of fire residues may indicate the absence of fire-making knowledge and skills rather than just taphonomic processes, and that the presence of fire residues does not necessarily indicate the ability to manufacture fire.