A luchina (Russian: Лучина) is a long thin sliver/chip or plate of wood, most commonly used as a miniature torch for makeshift lighting of the interiors of buildings in the history of Russia.
An early mention of the use of luchina for lighting in western sources may be found in Fletcter's Of the Russe Common Wealth (1591): ...their greater menne vſe much waxe for their lightes, poorer and meaner ſorte birch dried in their ſtoaues, and cut into long ſliuers, which they call Luchineos.
[7] Usage of luchina/luczywo had a number of drawbacks enumerated in an 1828 article by a colonel Piotr Kołogriwow, which suggested to use burning of hemp stalks for lighting.
Another way is search for lucina's unburned tinder ends (and having a reliable way to distinguish them from other kinds of partially burned pieces of wood).
[1][10] In Olonets Governorate (Karelia), pine luchina was commonly used for basket weaving, both for home usage and for sale.