In the archaeological record, ash and charred organic material are the only indications of the type of fuel used by ancient societies to feed their fires. This potential source of information may help further understanding of past human behaviour in relation to fuel selection, applied type of fire and function of fires lit in hearths. This study examined ash from reference samples and ash and char samples recovered from an Iron Age peatland site in Vlaardingen, the Netherlands. Local availability and abundance made it possible for the occupants of the site to choose from different fuel resources. Peat and cattle dung were readily available, while wood was less abundant. Reference samples from various locations were collected to investigate the properties of ash. Different types of wood, peat and cattle dung were accordingly ashed and analysed. In total, two techniques were used, that is, chemical analyses (x-ray fluorescence (XRF)) for the determination of the elemental composition and microscopic studies on field images of these ashes, mounted on glass slides, to investigate phytoliths quantitatively (Si and Ca types), siliceous aggregates and spherulites. The properties of the archaeological samples were compared with these results. The archaeological char samples were used for identification and analysed using reflective microscopy to study structure and temperature by reflectance (%Ro). It provided the necessary information to determine the type of fuel used by the Iron Age farmers and obtain more information on the function of the present fire structures. The results are strong indications that Iron Age farmers used all available fuels, that is, peat, cattle dung and wood, to feed their fires. The integrated application of phytolith, geochemical and char analyses has a high potential for the identification of the fuel selected by ancient societies.

中文翻译：

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考古背景中的燃料遗骸：实验和考古证据，用于识别生活在泥炭地的铁器时代农民使用的炉膛中的遗骸

在考古记录中，灰烬和烧焦的有机材料是古代社会用来生火的燃料类型的唯一迹象。这种潜在的信息来源可能有助于进一步了解过去人类在燃料选择、应用类型的火和壁炉中点燃的火的功能方面的行为。该研究检查了参考样本中的灰分以及从荷兰弗拉尔丁根的铁器时代泥炭地遗址中回收的灰分和炭样本。当地的可用性和丰富性使该场地的居住者可以从不同的燃料资源中进行选择。泥炭和牛粪很容易获得，而木材则较少。收集了来自不同地点的参考样品以研究灰分的特性。相应地对不同类型的木材、泥炭和牛粪进行灰化和分析。总的来说，使用了两种技术，即化学分析（X 射线荧光 (XRF)），用于测定元素组成，并对安装在载玻片上的这些灰烬的现场图像进行显微研究，以定量研究植硅体（Si和 Ca 类型）、硅质聚集体和球晶。考古样品的特性与这些结果进行了比较。考古炭样品用于鉴定和分析，使用反射显微镜通过反射率 (%Ro) 研究结构和温度。它提供了必要的信息，以确定铁器时代农民使用的燃料类型，并获得有关当前防火结构功能的更多信息。结果有力地表明，铁器时代的农民使用了所有可用的燃料，即泥炭、牛粪和木材，养活他们的火。植硅体、地球化学和焦炭分析的综合应用对于识别古代社会选择的燃料具有很大的潜力。