Ancient wildfires in the Levant may have inspired Neolithic pottery-making, Israeli study suggests

An Israeli study published in Geomorphology suggests that ancient wildfires and erosion in the southern Levant may have inspired Neolithic communities to discover pottery-making. Led by Prof. Amos Frumkin of Hebrew University, the research proposes a 'natural kiln hypothesis' where intense fires hardened clay, which people then learned to replicate. Pottery emerged around 9,500-8,200 years ago, coinciding with peak fire and clay deposition.

A new Israeli study suggests that ancient wildfires and erosion in the southern Levant may have inspired Neolithic communities to discover that fire could transform clay into pottery. The research, led by Prof. Amos Frumkin of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem's Institute of Earth Sciences, was published in early September in the journal Geomorphology. It analyzes evidence from ancient sediment, caves, charcoal deposits, and archaeological sites across the region, comparing two periods: the last interglacial period (129,000 to 116,000 years ago) and the early Holocene (11,000 to 7,000 years ago). The study proposes a 'natural kiln hypothesis,' where intense wildfires burned away vegetation, leading to severe erosion that deposited clay-rich soil in valleys like the Jordan and Dead Sea valleys. Neolithic people living there may have encountered patches of clay hardened by natural fires and realized the process could be deliberately reproduced. Pottery appeared in the region during the same broad period as peak fire and clay deposition, around 9,500 to 8,200 years ago. The hypothesis is supported by petrographic research showing that Yarmukian pottery from the Jordan Valley was made from local redeposited terra rossa clay. Frumkin describes the hypothesis as 'speculative and testable,' noting that current dating cannot yet confirm the exact sequence of events.