'Strike a light' stone

A large, slightly flattened roughly circular pebble with one end sheared off known as a "strike a light". This would have been struck against a fragment of iron pyrites to produce a spark.   "Strike-a-lights" were often worn or abraded at one or both ends. Mesolithic peoples have left no trace of their cooking techniques, but food did not need to be eaten raw. Fire could be made in two ways, either by striking together lumps of iron pyrites and flint to produce sparks, or by setting an upright stick into a hole in a horizontal piece of timber and spinning it rapidly, perhaps with a bow drill. Smouldering embers were transferred to dry grassess, kindling, and finally a fire. It is likely that once alight, fires were carefully transferred from hearth to hearth rather than allowed to go out.