This core Palaeofire project will be central for the analysis of changes in fire regimes in response to past environmental and climate changes, using large-scale data synthesis and fire modelling. The PDRA leading it will be responsible for the collation and analysis of relevant palaeodata sets, including data on fire regimes, vegetation, peat growth, land-surface hydrology and climate reconstructions. This work will involve updating existing global data sets, through collaboration with international groups such as the PAGES Global Palaeofire Working Group or the PAGES C-peat project. It will involve creating and promoting new data compilations, for example for regional vegetation changes. In addition to analysis of the palaeodata, the PDRA will be involved in the design and analysis of model experiments to test explicit hypotheses about the response of fire to environmental and climate change in the past, including running specific palaeo-experiments using state-of-the-art fire-enabled vegetation models.