Conservation of Fire II - Firing the Mud Pots
"People did not know how to produce fire themselves. But it was produced in nature. So then that fire was like a gift, coming from the volcanoes, from the fire in the forest, coming from the fire in different places... But before it could be considered a 'gift' it was recognized as threatening and dangerous. Here is the first difference between hominids and other animals… All of them flee before fire, but the hominids move closer to the fire. That is something that marks a historical difference. Because in these guys' circuitry there is sufficient capacity to oppose their own reflexes. Nature says, 'escape'; but they go against this and say, 'move closer'…" - Silo, The Talk of 'The Stone' ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A little less than a month after we made our mud pots, we arranged to fire them in a firepit in a nearby Park. We built up a small fire and put our pots around it so they would heat up very slowly, until the point when they...