Burning issues with the archaeology of fire

•Recontextualizing fire can advance understanding of individuals and communities in a range of contexts.•Fire is intertwined with archaeologists’ work and those whom they study.•Fire can be an agent, artifact, and participant. Fire represents a continuous and relentless force in the archaeological record. It has been harnessed to destroy and transform, yet it can also act as a force on its own, bringing disaster or a new ground on which to build. What remains after a burning event can be used to understand not only the agency of those in the past, but also processes of transformation, insights into material properties, and so on. The 2019 Trial by Fire conference at UCL Institute of Archaeology addressed fire’s visibility in the archaeological record, fire’s interaction with artifacts, fire as a participant, and as an artifact in its own right. This introduction to our resultant Special Issue presents a series of papers which address these themes and highlights the value of considering fire when attempting to learn more about the lives of past individuals through scientific analysis.