ABSTRACT

A hearth is the location of an intentional fire, commonly fueled with organic matter such as wood, charcoal, crop waste, or dried animal dung (biomass, or biofuel). Hearths also implicate gender, regional ecologies, and complex, symbolically rich technologies. This article is about household cooking hearths—specifically, biomass hearths used with ceramic cooking vessels. Insights are drawn from international development projects, ethnoarchaeology, archaeology, and related fields to define types of hearths. We identify associations between hearth construction and other key attributes of archaeological relevance, including cooking vessel shape, food preparation methods, fuel choice, labor allocation, methods and materials of house construction, and use of indoor and outdoor spaces. Additionally, we discuss these associations based on our ethnoarchaeological study of development in contemporary Rajasthan, India. We argue that broadening the scope of ethnoarchaeology to consider international development efforts that promote change reveals the complicated ways that cooking hearths are embedded within households.

摘要

壁炉是故意燃烧的地方，通常以有机物为燃料，例如木材、木炭、农作物废料或干燥的动物粪便（生物质或生物燃料）。壁炉还涉及性别、区域生态和复杂的、象征性丰富的技术。这篇文章是关于家用炉灶——特别是与陶瓷烹饪容器一起使用的生物质炉灶。洞察力来自国际发展项目、民族考古学、考古学和相关领域，以定义壁炉的类型。我们确定了壁炉建造与考古相关的其他关键属性之间的关联，包括烹饪容器形状、食物制备方法、燃料选择、劳动力分配、房屋建造方法和材料以及室内和室外空间的使用。此外，我们根据我们对当代印度拉贾斯坦邦发展的民族考古学研究来讨论这些关联。我们认为，扩大民族考古学的范围以考虑促进变革的国际发展努力揭示了炉灶嵌入家庭的复杂方式。