History of Fireplaces

I -Early Use. Three major divisions of earth history are Cosmological, Geological and Anthropological/Archaeological.
The Cosmological time period includes the big bang event 13.8 billion years ago and the subsequent creation of the universe.
The Geological time periods include the origin and evolution of the earth from about 4.5 billion years ago. Geological time periods are the Eon, Era, Period and Epoch. The Cenozoic Era is from about 65 million years ago to the present. The Tertiary Period is from from about 65 million years to about 1.8 million years ago. The Quatenary Period is from about 1.8 million years ago to the present. The Pliocene Epoch is from about 5.3 to 1.8 million years ago. The Pleistocene Epoch is from about 1.8 million years ago to 8,000 years ago. Finally, the Holocene Epoch is from about 8,000 years ago to the present.
The Anthropological/Archeological time periods include human evolution and known history.
General anthropological/archaeological time periods are Pre-history, Ancient History and Modern and Contemporary history. Pre-history starts about three million years ago when early humans invented stone tools (the stone age) and progresses to about five thousand years ago (3000 bc) with the invention of writing.There are many divisions here including the paleolithic, neolithic and iron ages. The earliest controlled use of fire by homo erectus has been estimated at 1.7 to .2 million years. That is 1,700,000 to 200,000 years ago. By comparison, the Out of Africa theory estimates hominins expanding into Eurasia between 1.8 million and 500,000 years ago. Neanderthals lived in Europe from an estimated 130,000 to 30,000 years ago. The control and use of fire seems to coincide with human expansion.
The genus Homo is evident in the Pleistocene Epoch from about 2.6 million years ago and into the Holocene Epoch from about 11,700 years ago.
We now move to the concept of the human change from hunter/gather to small pastoral and farming communities an estimated 12,000 years ago. The earliest evidence of farming is from about 23,000 years ago, and there is evidence for a pemanent hunter/gatherer site at Ohala II in Israel, also from about 23,000 years ago, so there is quite a transition period. Catalhoyuk in Turkey is a 9,500 year old permanent settlement with archaeological evidence pointing toward an almost evenly distributed mix of farming and hunter/gatherer. The clustered and adjacent dwellings were about 20×29 feet with a hearth away from the walls and a domed oven set into a wall. The roof had a hole in it to allow smoke to escape.
The Island of Mainland in Scotland’s Orkney Archipelago contains what remains of Skara Brae, a late neolithic settlement occupied from about 3180 bc to 2500 bc. The stone dwellings were a little more the 20×20 feet. They contained a stone hearth for both cooking and heating. Of special interest is a separate structure (House 8), thought to have been used to produce tools. House 8 appears to contain the remains of a flue, indicating (to me) that the fireplace was taking shape.
Skara Brae, in this context is a good marker for the end of pre- history.

II- Ancient History. This time period starts, as stated above, about five thousand years ago (3000 bc) with the invention of writing. The oldest known writing is Sumerian, Egyptian, Chinese, and a few others. This first form of writing is called cuneiform, marks were made on wet clay tablets. The Phoenecians are credited with the first alphabet about 800 bc, and the Greeks appear to be the first to incorporate vowels, thereby creating the first true or modern, alphabet. It seems that some form of writing may have been the catalyst for urbanization. When the first cities appear and develop, the concept of ownership and personal property arises. Personal property includes a home so each dwelling had to have had a means of preparing and cooking food, a hearth. These were still very simple, a central fire pit or an open fire with stones or bricks for containment and a hole in the roof to allow smoke to rise up and out of the dwelling.
A hearth, an open fire, heated stones and boiling were cooking methods, among others, that were used over thousands of years. The first evidence of a fireplace happens at roughly 1000 ad.
At about 1000 ad villages and the beginnings of true cities appear. The development that defined a true fireplace was the construction of two story dwellings. The hearth was moved to an exterior wall and the chimney was invented. The chimney then vented the smoke directly to the outside. Stone and bricks were used and the familiar appearance of the fireplace gradually took shape. A hearthstone was used as a base for the fireplace and a later development had an iron plate under the hearthstone. Both these innovations provided better heating and longer lasting heat. A large log would burn for a very long time and embers could, with the use of bellows, be stoked, with kindling, to begin a new fire.

III – Modern History. As seen above the development of the fireplace took thousands of years. Again, after 1000 ad the fireplace, along with the chimney and flue, moved to an exterior wall and essentially took its modern form.
Prince Rupert of the Rhine lived from Dec. 17, 1619 to Nov. 29, 1682. He was a German soldier, scientist and colonial governor among other things. He was a nephew of King Charles I of England who made him Duke of Cumberland and Earl of Holderness. In 1678, Rupert placed an elevated grate in his fireplace thus being credited with the invention of the grate. This allowed better air flow and more efficient burning and smoke removal. A 1618 publication by Franz Kessler showed a stove with chambers stacked vertically, in effect a baffle, and the inverted siphon, both later used by Ben Franklin. In 1741 Ben Franklin invented the Franklin Stove. Ben’s stove contained a baffle so Ben and a later designer David Ritterhouse are also credited with inventing and refining baffled systems.
Sir Benjamin Thompson, Count Rumford, was an anglo-american physicist. In his papers in 1796 and 1798 he introduced a shallower fireplace with angled sides. There are many more details to this more efficient design but to this day it is referred to as the Rumford Fireplace.
Fireplace mantels were first used to block smoke from entering the room.
In England the 1700’s coal was used in fireplaces. A pot at the top was what we call the chimney cap today. The pot slowed downdrafts and since many buildings housed multiple families the number of pots visible at the chimney top revealed the number of flued apartments in each building. Modrern chimney caps also slow downdrafts and these along with dampers control airflow. When the fireplace is in use open the damper, close it when not using the fireplace. There is a damper pull or lever above the fire box and in some cases, especially if a new flue has been inserted in the chimney, the damper may be at or near the chimney cap.
Most homes today have central air and/or heat, giving modern fireplaces both a functional and decorative purpose. A real wood fire, gas and gas logs and electric inserts (1995) are the prevalent modes of fireplace use. There are hundreds of choices with which to make your fireplace area a favorite place for your family and friends. From screens to gas logs to mantel bling, the sky is the limit when it comes to furnishing and decorating this area, enjoy.
*Don’t forget to call your local experts for cleaning, maintenance and repairs.

References;
– Ancient History Encyclopedia, https://www.ancient.eu
-Apartment Therapy, Quick History of Chimneys, https://www.apartmenttherapy.com/quick-history-chimneys-162580
– Compact Appliance infographic https://learn.compactappliance.com/fireplaces-infographic/
– Curious History, http://www.curioushistory.com/evolution-from-fire-to-fireplace/
– Heatilator, http://www.heatilator.com/Shopping-Tools/Blog/Fireplace-Evolution.aspx
– Local Histories (Houses), http://www.localhistories.org/houses.html
– Local Histories (Houses Timeline), http://www.localhistories.org/housestime.html
– Palomar College, https://www2.palomar.edu/anthro/earlyprimates/time_scale_of_Earth_1.htm
– Revolvy, https://www.revolvy.com/main/index.php?s=List%20of%20time%20periods
– Science Views, http://scienceviews.com/dinosaurs/geologictime.html
– Victorian Web, http://www.victorianweb.org/technology/domestic/fireplace.html
-Wikipedia, Franklin stove, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franklin_stove ,
Rumford fireplace, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rumford_fireplace
*Some dates and details may vary according to the author/reference cited.