Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Comment
  • Published:

A collaborative agenda for archaeology and fire science

Nature Ecology & Evolution volume 6, pages 835–839 (2022)Cite this article

Subjects

Humans have influenced global fire activity for millennia and will continue to do so into the future. Given the long-term interaction between humans and fire, we propose a collaborative research agenda linking archaeology and fire science that emphasizes the socioecological histories and consequences of anthropogenic fire in the development of fire management strategies today.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Relevant articles

Open Access articles citing this article.

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on SpringerLink
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Fig. 1: Connecting archaeology and fire science.

References

  1. Benali, A. et al. Glob. Ecol. Biogeogr. 26, 799–811 (2017).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Parker, C. H., Keefe, E. R., Herzog, N. M., O’Connell, J. F. & Hawkes, K. Evol. Anthropol. 25, 54–63 (2016).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. MacDonald, K., Scherjon, F., van Veen, E., Vaesen, K. & Roebroeks, W. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 118, e2101108118 (2021).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Ellis, E. C. et al. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 118, e2023483118 (2021).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Kelly, L. T. et al. Science 370, eabb0355 (2020).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Roos, C. I., Zedeño, M. N., Hollenback, K. L. & Erlick, M. M. H. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 115, 8143–8148 (2018).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Bliege Bird, R. & Bird, D. W. Am. J. Hum. Biol. 33, 4 (2021).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Gragson, T. L., Coughlan, M. R. & Leigh, D. S. Sustainability 12, 3882 (2020).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Long, J. W. et al. For. Ecol. Manage. 500, 119597 (2021).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Adlam, C. et al. Soc. Nat. Resour. https://doi.org/10.1080/08941920.2021.2006385 (2021).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Long, J. W. et al. Ecopsychology 12, 71–82 (2020).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Sullivan, A. P. III & Olszewski, D. I. (eds) Archaeological Variability and Interpretation in Global Perspective (Univ. Press Colorado, 2016).

  13. Carter, V. A. et al. Commun. Earth. Environ. 2, 72 (2021).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Roos, C. I. et al. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 118, e2018733118 (2021).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. Maezumi, S. Y. et al. Nat. Plants 4, 540–547 (2018).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Hoffman, K. M. et al. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 118, e2105073118 (2021).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  17. Sullivan, A. P. III & Mink, P. B. Am. Antiq. 83, 619–638 (2018).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Klimaszewski-Patterson, A. & Mensing, S. Landsc. Ecol. 35, 2659–2678 (2020).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Bliege Bird, R. et al. Biol. Conserv. 219, 110–118 (2018).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. McCaffrey, S. et al. Int. J. Wildland Fire 22, 15 (2013).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  21. Anderson, M. K. Tending the Wild (Univ. California Press, 2005)

  22. Marks-Block, T. et al. Fire Ecol. 17, 6 (2021).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Liebmann, M. J. et al. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 113, E696–E704 (2016).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  24. Coughlan, M. R. J. Ethnobiol. 33, 86–104 (2013).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Klimaszewski-Patterson, A. & Mensing, S. A. Anthropocene 15, 37–48 (2016).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. Derr, K. M. Can. J. Arch. 38, 250–279 (2014).

    Google Scholar 

  27. Snitker, G. J. Archaeol. Sci. 95, 1–15 (2018).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  28. Coughlan, M. R. For. Ecol. Manage. 312, 55–66 (2014).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  29. Le Couédic, M. et al. Rapport de Prospection et Sondages, Larrau, Pyrénées-Atlantiques. Campagne 2014 (ITEM, EA 3002, Université de Pau et des Pays de l’Adour, 2014).

  30. Leigh, D. S. et al. Quat. Int. 402, 61–71 (2016).

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This contribution developed from a forum entitled ‘Archaeological approaches to anthropogenic fire and global pyrodiversity’ held during the 86th Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology (SAA). We are grateful to the SAA organizers for the opportunity to assemble an extensive group of archaeological researchers and practitioners. We also thank R. Baisden for her comments on an earlier draft. Additionally, G.S. was supported in part by an appointment to the United States Forest Service (USFS) Research Participation Program administered by the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE) through an interagency agreement between the US Department of Energy (DOE) and the US Department of Agriculture (USDA). ORISE is managed by ORAU under DOE contract number DE-SC0014664. All opinions expressed in this paper are the authors’ and do not necessarily reflect the policies and views of USDA, DOE or ORAU/ORISE. Any use of trade, product or firm names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the US Government. S.Y.M. acknowledges funding from the European Commission (Marie Curie Fellowship 792197).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Forest Disturbance Science, USDA Forest Service, Southern Research Station, Athens, GA, USA

    Grant Snitker

  2. Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education, US Department of Energy, Oak Ridge, TN, USA

    Grant Snitker

  3. Department of Anthropology, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, TX, USA

    Christopher I. Roos

  4. Department of Anthropology, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH, USA

    Alan P. Sullivan III

  5. Department of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Jena, Germany

    S. Yoshi Maezumi

  6. Department of Ecosystem and Landscape Dynamics, Institute for Biodiversity & Ecosystem Dynamics, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands

    S. Yoshi Maezumi

  7. Department of Anthropology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA

    Douglas W. Bird

  8. Institute for a Sustainable Environment, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR, USA

    Michael R. Coughlan

  9. Historical Research Associates, Inc, Portland, OR, USA

    Kelly M. Derr

  10. USDA Forest Service, Lassen National Forest, Susanville, CA, USA

    Linn Gassaway

  11. Department of Geography, California State University Sacramento, Sacramento, CA, USA

    Anna Klimaszewski-Patterson

  12. US Geological Survey, Alaska Science Center, Anchorage, AK, USA

    Rachel A. Loehman

Authors
  1. Grant Snitker
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Christopher I. Roos
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Alan P. Sullivan III
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. S. Yoshi Maezumi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Douglas W. Bird
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Michael R. Coughlan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Kelly M. Derr
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. Linn Gassaway
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  9. Anna Klimaszewski-Patterson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  10. Rachel A. Loehman
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

This Comment was conceptualized by G.S., C.I.R., A.P.S., S.Y.M., D.W.B., M.R.C., K.M.D. and A.K.P. G.S. wrote the original draft; G.S., C.I.R., A.P.S., S.Y.M., D.W.B., M.R.C., K.M.D., L.G., A.K.P. and R.A.L. contributed to review and editing. Visualizations were generated by S.Y.M. and M.R.C.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Grant Snitker.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Snitker, G., Roos, C.I., Sullivan, A.P. et al. A collaborative agenda for archaeology and fire science. Nat Ecol Evol 6, 835–839 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-022-01759-2

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-022-01759-2

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing