Archaeologists have discovered and analyzed three hearths at the Upper Paleolithic site (45,000 to 10,000 years ago) of Korman’ 9 on the right bank of the Dniester River in Ukraine. Their findings show that Ice Age humans built different types of hearths and used mainly wood, but possibly also bones and fat, to fuel their fires.
Murphree et al. provide high-resolution geoarchaeological research into three combustion features associated with Epigravettian occupations at the site of Korman’ 9 in Ukraine with ages falling in the Last Glacial Maximum.
It is widely assumed that a key tool for human survival, particularly during cold periods, is the ability to create, maintain and use fire.
A large body of literature has provided data on the benefits of fire use on hominin evolution and its fundamental function in everyday life.
More recent studies have also shown the labor-intensive nature of using pyrotechnology; meaning fire use is not only an essential survival tool but also played a key role in how hunter-gatherer populations organize themselves.
This includes: how hunter-gatherers acquire resources like wooden fuels, if they stored or cached fuel materials for future use, how they started and maintained fires, or how sites and activities are organized around combustion features.
“Fire was not just about keeping warm; it was also essential for cooking, making tools and for social gatherings,” said Dr. Philip R. Nigst, an archaeologist at the University of Vienna.
“We know that fire was widespread before and after this period, but there is little evidence from the height of the Ice Age,” added Dr. William Murphree, an archaeologist at the University of Algarve.
In the current study, the researchers focused on the archaeological site of Korman’ 9 in Ukraine.
“Korman’ 9 is an Upper Paleolithic site located on a northern facing terrace on the right bank of the Dniester River in Ukraine,” they said.
“The site was found in 2012 during a survey of sites along the Dniester River.”
Through microstratigraphic analysis, micromorphology and colorimetric analysis, the scientists identified three flat, wood-fired hearths.
One interesting finding from this was that these fires reached temperatures of more than 600 degrees Celsius, which proves sophisticated mastery of pyrotechnics even in the face of extreme environmental stresses.
The analysis also shows that humans used wood as their main fuel during the peak of the Ice Age, with charcoal analyses indicating spruce wood. However, other fuels such as bone or fat could have been used.
“Some of the animal bones found at the site were burnt in a fire with a temperature of over 650 degrees Celsius,” said Dr. Marjolein D. Bosch, an zooarchaeologist at the University of Vienna, the Austrian Academy of Sciences and the Natural History Museum Vienna.
“We are currently investigating whether they were used as fuel or just accidentally burned.”
All three fireplaces are open and flat. However, the new results suggest that the use of fire was sophisticated, as the fireplaces were likely to have been built and used differently in different seasons.
One of the three fireplaces is larger and thicker, suggesting that higher temperatures were achieved here.
“People perfectly controlled the fire and knew how to use it in different ways, depending on the purpose of the fire,” Dr. Nigst said.
“But our results also show that these hunter-gatherers used the same place at different times of the year during their annual migrations.”
The findings were published in the journal Geoarchaeology.
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William Chase Murphree et al. 2025. Fire Use During the Last Glacial Maximum: Evidence From the Epigravettian at Korman’ 9, Middle Dniester Valley, Ukraine. Geoarchaeology 40 (2): e70006; doi: 10.1002/gea.70006
