Pyrocultural

Reinterpreting early eyewitness accounts and visual records, Gammage enables the reader to ‘see’ what was once invisible: a land intentionally shaped by skilful pyrocultural interventions.

This first pyrocultural activity entailed the chemical reduction of ore minerals in charcoal-burning furnaces.

Due to his ingenuity Homo learned to unleash the energy of wood by taming wild fire and stepped into the pyrocultural age.