[flyGuyOnTheSly]

>In their experiment, Bankoff and Winter constructed a model of a partially dilapidated Neolithic house, and then set it on fire in a way that would replicate how an accidental fire would have perhaps started from an untended cooking-hearth fire.

Just a thought from an armchair-anthropologist here.

Perhaps a chemical reaction transpired over the course of the typical duration of a Neolithic house before it burned?

Unless they built it and waited a few decades before burning it down... it's not the same thing.

Another idea is that perhaps more dung was used than we imagine?

In which case if the building was mostly made of fuel and less clay I could see it building up enough heat to vitrify the clay.

[mleonhard]

This is the first time I've heard the idea of using dung as a building material. Do you have a link to some information about it?

Mud walls often contain grass or other fibrous plants. Dung decomposes and crumbles. I expect that dung in walls will rot the plant fibers.

[cedex12]

start here maybe? https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01876848/document

[mleonhard]

Excellent. Thank you.