Geo-ethnoarchaeology of Fire: Geoarchaeological Investigation of Fire Residues in Contemporary Context and its Archaeological Implications

Geoarchaeology focusing on microscopic and chemical remains has contributed greatly to the study of archaeological fire. One of the methodological approaches geoarchaeologists have adopted in the last two decades is the use of ethnoarchaeology to collect reference materials and construct models for how fire residues are formed and preserve or deteriorate in the archaeological record. Geo-ethnoarchaeology uses contemporary contexts to investigate both living and recently abandoned sites in order to directly link human behavior with the formation of microscopic and chemical markers and to follow the post-depositional processes, which affect the formation of the archaeological record. This article reviews the contribution of geo-ethnoarchaeology to the study of archaeological formation processes associated with fire residues through the examination of several key case studies and their archaeological implications.