This site in Britain is about 400,000 years old and offers the earliest known signs of fire-making by human ancestors. Nick Ashton, a curator at the British Museum, points out that this pushes back our understanding of when fire was first used significantly—by about 350,000 years.
Researchers are still unsure what these early humans were doing with fire. They might have roasted meat or carved tools. However, understanding when fire was first controlled can reveal important details about human evolution and behavior.
One interesting theory is that using fire may have led to bigger brain sizes. Cooking food makes it easier to digest and provides more energy. Chris Stringer from the Natural History Museum in London explains that our brains use a lot of energy—about 20% of our daily intake. Being able to cook might have helped fuel brain development.
While this discovery marks a significant point in the timeline, Stringer cautions that it’s not the first time humans made fire. Earlier evidence exists but is still debated among experts. For instance, some sites in South Africa and Israel show signs of fire use, but their validity remains uncertain.
Dennis Sandgathe, an archaeology lecturer at Simon Fraser University, also notes the difficulty in differentiating natural fires from those made by humans. He emphasizes that it’s unclear if these ancestors were collecting fire from nature or if they created their own.
Recent studies highlight stone tools found near the fire site, including flint hand axes and rare iron pyrite, which likely came from humans attempting to create fire. However, other experts like Wil Roebroeks from Leiden University urge caution. He argues that much of the evidence is circumstantial and doesn’t strongly indicate that fire-making began here.
Fire was crucial for early humans, providing warmth, a way to deter predators, and cooking food. Sandgathe adds that the development of fire wasn’t a straight path. Some groups learned to make it only to lose that knowledge later. History suggests that fire-making may have been discovered multiple times by different groups, each time rediscovering it after periods of loss.
In conclusion, the timeline of our ancestors and their relationship with fire is complex and uneven. As experts continue to study these ancient practices, we can only begin to piece together the fascinating story of human evolution. For more insights, you can explore findings from trusted sources like BBC and National Geographic.
