{"id":4030,"date":"2017-09-19T06:35:01","date_gmt":"2017-09-19T06:35:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/staging.hearthaustralia.com.au\/?p=200"},"modified":"2021-07-14T22:47:40","modified_gmt":"2021-07-14T12:47:40","slug":"the-history-of-hearth-fireplaces","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging.hearthaustralia.com.au\/the-history-of-hearth-fireplaces\/","title":{"rendered":"A history of hearths and humans through the ages"},"content":{"rendered":"

There are few words today which evoke collective warmth, comfort and satisfaction, the way hearth does. Hearth is the part of the fireplace in homes and halls which is brick or stone-lined. It has been integral to homes, cabins, castles and palaces for heating and cooking over the centuries, especially in cold climates.<\/p>\n

The word hearth has Indo-European roots<\/a>. Some of the earliest known written references to the hearth relate to Kapnikon<\/em> or hearth taxes in the Byzantine era. There was even a tax on hearths in England in the 17th<\/sup> century. In some religions such as Zoroastrianism, the hearth remains a sacred space<\/a> today, as it was in ancient times.<\/p>\n

As far as the presence of stone fireplaces in large dwellings go, they have not always been as cosy as we know them today. In early European castles<\/a>, the hearth often stood in the middle of cold large halls, with smoke escaping through holes in the roof. It was only later that they moved to small rooms for cooking and gathering around. Decorating with columns and mantelpieces followed.<\/p>\n

\"Hearth
An open fire often brings people together | Flickr – Rob Lee<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

What hasn\u2019t changed is just how relaxed humans feel around hearths and log fires. The reason for this could in fact be rooted in evolution and the practice of sitting around fires in pre-historic times. That\u2019s certainly according to researchers at the University of Alabama in the United States.<\/a><\/p>\n

The team which included anthropologists also found in a 2014 study, that blood pressure dropped when people watched and listened to sounds of fire. They hypothesised that humans are likely to have evolved to enjoy being around fires<\/a> because of the important role they played in social cohesion.<\/p>\n

Today, folk aren\u2019t just drawn to hearths for their warmth. In many villages around the world, they remain important for cooking family meals. Over the last few decades, food trends in cities have also emerged with the revival of stone hearth cooking<\/a> in backyards, pizza houses and eateries.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Grassy landscape with Figures, cows and birds by Willian Robinson featured in Museum of Brisbane’s Harvest to Hearth exhibition | Photo: Museum of Brisbane<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

While we do not hear the word hearth used too often, its meaning and appeal still resonate. \u00a0Last year the Museum of Brisbane \u00a0showcased a collection of works inspired by the production, harvest and cooking of food. The exhibition was called \u201dHarvest to Hearth<\/a>\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There are few words today which evoke collective warmth, comfort and satisfaction, the way hearth does. Hearth is the part of the fireplace in homes and halls which is brick or stone-lined. It has been integral to homes, cabins, castles and palaces for heating and cooking over the centuries, especially in cold climates. The word […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4159,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,59],"tags":[87,88,89,90,91,92,93,94,95,96,97,61,98,83,99,84,100,85,86],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nA history of hearths and humans through the ages - Hearth<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The concept of the hearth appealed strongly to the Hearth team because fireplaces have always provided humans comfort and connection.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/staging.hearthaustralia.com.au\/the-history-of-hearth-fireplaces\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A history of hearths and humans through the ages - Hearth\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The concept of the hearth appealed strongly to the Hearth team because fireplaces have always provided humans comfort and connection.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/staging.hearthaustralia.com.au\/the-history-of-hearth-fireplaces\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Hearth\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/hearthsupportservices\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-09-19T06:35:01+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-07-14T12:47:40+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/staging.hearthaustralia.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Soulriser.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"847\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"rory.anderson\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@HearthSupport\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@HearthSupport\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"rory.anderson\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.hearthaustralia.com.au\/the-history-of-hearth-fireplaces\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.hearthaustralia.com.au\/the-history-of-hearth-fireplaces\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"rory.anderson\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.hearthaustralia.com.au\/#\/schema\/person\/d7bfa36f0d3eacb7b4fe9f307971a8e1\"},\"headline\":\"A history of hearths and humans through the ages\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-09-19T06:35:01+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-07-14T12:47:40+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.hearthaustralia.com.au\/the-history-of-hearth-fireplaces\/\"},\"wordCount\":428,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.hearthaustralia.com.au\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.hearthaustralia.com.au\/the-history-of-hearth-fireplaces\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/staging.hearthaustralia.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Soulriser.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Disability\",\"evolution\",\"fire\",\"fireplaces\",\"fires\",\"food trends\",\"health\",\"Hearth\",\"history\",\"kapnikon\",\"pizza\",\"NDIS\",\"sacred fire\",\"blood pressure\",\"stone hearth\",\"byzantine\",\"zoarastrianism\",\"cabins\",\"cooking\"],\"articleSection\":[\"News\",\"Hearth\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.hearthaustralia.com.au\/the-history-of-hearth-fireplaces\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/staging.hearthaustralia.com.au\/the-history-of-hearth-fireplaces\/\",\"name\":\"A history of hearths and humans through the ages - 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