Microscopic charcoal (microcharcoal) was identified in marine sediments of core MD96-2098 located off Namibia and analysed to reconstruct past changes in fire activity of southern Africa (Daniau et al. 2023). Microcharcoal concentrates were obtained after chemical treatment and microcharcoal measured using microscopy. Measurements include microcharcoal concentration (in number of fragments per gram and in µm2 per gram); mean microcharcoal elongation ratio (the lenght to width ratio of particle, and the width to lenght ratio); and percentages of burnt vegetation types. The data covers the past 184,000 years.