Setting fire in a Paleolithic Cave: The influence of cave dimensions on smoke dispersal

•Smoke dispersal in caves investigated using air circulation simulation.•The cave’s opening height is major parameter influencing the smoke dispersal.•The preferred hearth location in cave is between the center and the back wall.•Hearth location, cave mouth height, and season of use are the critical parameters.•Hearth location can be used for analyzing the spatial organization at caves sites. Hearths are considered a central element in reconstructing activity areas, artifact distribution, and spatial organization of human activities in Paleolithic caves and rock shelters. However, research regarding the rationale for hearth locations within the cave is lacking. Smoke is a major negative product of hearths, which has an immediate effect on human health. Smoke dispersal from a hearth may even prevent, in certain circumstances, the presence of humans in the cave after a short period of use. In this study, we investigate the relation between cave dimensions and smoke dispersal following the principals of the air circulation model published recently by us. In order to analyze the influence of different parameters of cave dimensions on smoke dispersal, we simulated these parameters using actual Paleolithic cave dimensions. We show that hearth location, cave mouth height, and season of use are the critical parameters affecting smoke dispersal. As such, these variables should be taken into account when reconstructing human uses of Paleolithic caves with active hearths. Further research and simulations are planned to extend the preliminary results presented in this paper to include a wider range of cave dimensions, and thus this study is universally relevant for better understanding caves in which fire was habitually used.