the oil and conduct it upward so that the fuel burned faster
than the wick itself.
Another form of portable lighting was the torch. Any
type of hardwood stick, oft en soaked in pine pitch (the sticky,
tarlike sap from pine trees), would have burned to provide
light for some hours. Another type of torch consisted of tree
bark which comes off in sheets that naturally curl into tubes,
such as the bark of birch trees. Th ese tubes were stuff ed with
tinder and could be carried as torches. Also, ancient Europe-
ans probably used rushlights, a kind of candle that consisted
of the pith of plants (the spongy inside of the stalk) soaked
in fat. Many marsh plants worked well for this purpose. Th e
outer part of the stalk was peeled away, leaving the soft , frag-
ile interior. Th is pith was then dried and soaked in fat. A one-
foot length of rush candle would probably burn for about 20
minutes. Ancient Europeans used other plants in a similar
fashion, sometimes by rolling their leaves, drying them, and
soaking them in oil.
Th e question remains as to how the ancient Europeans
started a fi re in the fi rst place. Th e technologies for starting
fi re are nearly as old as humankind. One way to start a fi re
was with friction. Hardwoods were the most useful materials
for this purpose. A pointed stick was inserted into a small
hole in a block of wood and then rapidly twisted back and
forth until the friction produced enough heat to ignite a small
amount of tinder, such as dried grass. Later Europeans, who
were especially knowledgeable about metals, learned that a
piece of fl int struck with steel produced sparks. Flint is a crys-
talline quartz oft en found primarily in the form of nodules of
rock in limestone formations. Flint is found, for example, in
the chalky White Cliff s of Dover, England, and all over the
nearby beaches.GREECE
BY LISA R. BRODY
Interior spaces in the ancient Greek world were oft en illu-
minated with natural light through windows and skylights,
but various types of oil-burning lamps were also commonly
used whenever artifi cial light was required, as for nocturnal
activities. Th ese lamps evolved from their fi rst appearance in
the Bronze Age (ca. 3000 b.c.e.) until the Roman conquest
(31 b.c.e.) and beyond, into the Roman period. Th ey could be
made of terra-cotta, stone, or metal—usually bronze but in
some instances also lead, silver, or gold. Th e simplest lamps
were plain and purely functional, while more elaborate ex-
amples contained ornamental or fi gural relief scenes that of-
ten came from mythological or religious contexts. Even these
decorated lamps were relatively inexpensive (with the excep-
tions of those made with precious metals) and soon were re-
produced on a widespread scale by using molds.
A typical ancient Greek lamp was approximately 3–4
inches in length and 1 inch high. One of these lamps would
have burned for two to three hours before running out of oil,
though Greek legend spoke of a wondrous golden lamp on
the Acropolis in Athens that burned for a full year. Linen was
probably the most common wick material, but wicks could
be also made of various plant fi bers, such as fl ax, papyrus,
and hemp. Th e twisted strand would be inserted into an oil-
fi lled reservoir, with the end of the wick protruding from the
nozzle so that it could be lit. Th e fuel of choice was generally
olive oil, though animal fat or fi sh oil also were used.
Th e earliest oil lamps found in the Greek world date
from the Bronze Age (ca. 3200–1200 b.c.e.); many examples
of these lamps have been found at sites from Minoan Crete as
well as from the Mycenaean Greek mainland. In this era and
continuing through the ninth century b.c.e., common terra-
cotta lamps were generally bowl shaped or saucer shaped,
with the thickened rim pinched to form the nozzle spout for
the wick. Th e earliest of these open lamps were made by hand
and usually had four distinct spouts. In the Middle and Late
Bronze Ages they were thrown on a potter’s wheel, and their
shape began to develop toward a single spout; these are some-
times known as “cocked hat lamps.” Such lamps were usually
unglazed and undecorated.
By the onset of the Classical Period in the fi ft h century
b.c.e., the Greeks began to make lamps with a more rounded,Broken limestone lamp from the cave of Courbet, Penne-Tarn, France,
dating to 10,500 years ago; it shows a blackened hollow that suggests
it held animal fat to burn like a candle. (© Th e Trustees of the British
Museum)
illumination: Greece 589