Flint and pyrite: Making fire in the Stone Age

Flint implements with rounded ends, excavated at several Upper Palaeolithic sites in Denmark and Holland, are interpreted as strike-a-lights used in c ombination with pyrites. Experimental flints employed int his way show use- wear traces similar to those on the prehistoric specimens. It is suggested that the pyrite technique for fire production predates wood-on-wood techniq ues, at least in Europe and in Greenland.