An experimental approach to the study of Iron Age combustion structures in northeastern Iberia: the TRANSCOMB Project

Abstract

We are presenting the first results of an experimental project carried out in the Iberian Citadel of Calafell (Calafell, Tarragona, Spain), a reconstructed Iron Age site that is also a field of experimental archaeology. The aim of this experimentation is to investigate the efficiency of fire installations as well as the range of domestic activities they would have been built for, the fuels employed, and the management of natural resources related to them.This research is integrated within the framework of the TRANSCOMB (Transdisciplinary and experimental study of combustion structures in the western Mediterranean during Protohistory) project, funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science. Experimentation works have been performed on present-day replicas of archaeological combustion structures, more precisely six hearths of different types and one oven, located both indoors and outdoors. Various fuel-types (wood, grasses, palm leaves and animal dung) have been used, according to the available archaeobotanical records. Variables such as increased heating and time have been measured, in order to determine whether variations occur, depending on the fuels used, the type of structure, its location or weather conditions. Liquid boiling and meat cooking tests have also been performed. After use, these structures have been sampled for diverse analyses(anthracology, phytoliths and other calcitic microfossils, FTIR, micromorphology, chemical analysis of hearths surfaces), in order to compare the results of the same analyses performed in archaeological Iron Age combustion structures.