Campfire in the context of Summer camp

The pre-Columbian (or pre-Hispanic) history of the territory now making up the country of Mexico is known through the work of archaeologists and epigraphers, and through the accounts of Spanish conquistadores, settlers, and clergymen, as well as those of the indigenous chroniclers of the immediate post-conquest period.

Human presence in the Mexican region was once thought to date back 40,000 years, based upon what were believed to be ancient human footprints discovered in the Valley of Mexico; but, after further investigation using radioactive dating, it appears that this was an overestimate. It is currently unclear whether 21,000-year-old campfire remains found in the Valley of Mexico are the earliest human remains in Mexico. Indigenous peoples of Mexico began to selectively breed maize plants around 8000 BC. Evidence shows a marked increase in pottery working by 2300 BC and the beginning of intensive corn farming between 1800 and 1500 BC.

Wood ash is the powdery residue remaining after the combustion of wood, such as burning wood in a fireplace, bonfire, or an industrial power plant. It is largely composed of calcium compounds, along with other non-combustible trace elements present in the wood, and has been used for many purposes throughout history.

Leave No Trace, sometimes written as LNT, is a set of ethics promoting conservation of the outdoors. Originating in the mid-20th century, the concept started as a movement in the United States in response to ecological damage caused by wilderness recreation. In 1994, the non-profit "Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics" was formed to create educational resources around LNT, and organized the framework of LNT into seven principles.

1. Plan ahead and prepare
2. Travel and camp on durable surfaces
3. Dispose of waste properly
4. Leave what you find
5. Minimize campfire impacts
6. Respect wildlife
7. Be considerate of others

The idea behind the LNT principles is to leave the wilderness unchanged by human presence.

Woodcraft or woodlore is skill and experience in living and thriving in the woods, either on a short- or long-term basis. It includes skills as hunting, fishing, and camping. Traditionally, woodcraft was associated with subsistence lifestyles and hunting-gathering. In modern developed countries it is more commonly associated with outdoor recreation or survivalism. Woodcraft is one form of bushcraft.

Ash is the solid remnants of fires. Specifically, ash refers to all non-aqueous, non-gaseous residues that remain after something burns. In analytical chemistry, to analyse the mineral and metal content of chemical samples, ash is the non-gaseous, non-liquid residue after complete combustion.

Ashes as the end product of incomplete combustion are mostly mineral, but usually still contain an amount of combustible organic or other oxidizable residues. The best-known type of ash is wood ash, as a product of wood combustion in campfires, fireplaces, etc. The darker the wood ashes, the higher the content of remaining charcoal from incomplete combustion. The ashes are of different types. Some ashes contain natural compounds that make soil fertile. Others have chemical compounds that can be toxic but may break up in soil from chemical changes and microorganism activity.

A lighter is a portable device which uses mechanical or electrical means to create a controlled flame, and can be used to ignite a variety of flammable items, such as cigarettes, butane gas, fireworks, candles, or campfires. A lighter typically consists of a metal or plastic container filled with a flammable liquid, a compressed flammable gas, or in rarer cases a flammable solid (e.g. rope in a trench lighter); a means of ignition to produce the flame; and some provision for extinguishing the flame or else controlling it to such a degree that users may extinguish it with their breath. Alternatively, a lighter can be one that uses electricity to create an electric arc using the created plasma as the source of ignition or a heating element can be used in a similar vein to heat the target to its ignition temperatures, as first formally used by Friedrich Wilhelm Schindler to light cigars and now more commonly seen incorporated into the automobile auxiliary power outlet to ignite the target material. Different lighter fuels have different characteristics, which is the main influence behind the creation and purchasing of a variety of lighter types.

Wood fuel (or fuelwood) is a fuel such as firewood, charcoal, chips, sheets, pellets, and sawdust. The particular form used depends upon factors such as source, quantity, quality and application. In many areas, wood is the most easily available form of fuel, requiring no tools in the case of picking up dead wood, or few tools, although as in any industry, specialized tools, such as skidders and hydraulic wood splitters, have been developed to mechanize production. Sawmill waste and construction industry by-products also include various forms of lumber tailings. About half of wood extracted from forests worldwide is used as fuelwood.

The discovery of how to make fire for the purpose of burning wood is regarded as one of humanity's most important advances. The use of wood as a fuel source for heating is much older than civilization and is assumed to have been used by Neanderthals. Today, burning of wood is the largest use of energy derived from a solid fuel biomass. Wood fuel can be used for cooking and heating, and occasionally for fueling steam engines and steam turbines that generate electricity. Wood may be used indoors in a furnace, stove, or fireplace, or outdoors in furnace, campfire, or bonfire.

A fire pan is a pan for holding or conveying fire. The use of a fire pan reduces the impact to the ground, vegetation and rocks, and its compact size results in the burning of less wood. Fire pans also allow users to easily burn their accumulated garbage, although the best practice is to only burn paper. Combustible items will be reduced to ash. A fire pan user can leave no trace of the fire, as the ashes can be collected and buried.