An International team carrying out research at the Wonderwerk Cave in South Africa, and located near the Kalahari, say that they have discovered the earliest use of fire by humans and say that its dates back to 1 million years ago, 300,000 years earlier than first thought.
The research was a joint collaboration between the University of Toronto and the Hebrew University; tiny traces of wood ash, tools and animal bones were discovered in the Wonderwerk cave and details of the research was recently published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Anthropologist Michael Chazan from the University of Toronto said:
"The analysis pushes the timing for the human use of fire back by 300,000 years, suggesting that human ancestors as early as Homo erectus may have begun using fire as part of their way of life.”
During previous excavations of the Wonderwerk Cave, vast evidence of human occupation has been discovered. A more recent study has been analysing the material discovered in the earlier excavation and new field work on the Wonderwerk Cave has been carried out.
Michael Chazan said:
“The control of fire would have been a major turning point in human evolution."
“The impact of cooking food is well documented, but the impact of control over fire would have touched all elements of human society."
"Socializing around a camp fire might actually be an essential aspect of what makes us human.”
The research was a joint collaboration between the University of Toronto and the Hebrew University; tiny traces of wood ash, tools and animal bones were discovered in the Wonderwerk cave and details of the research was recently published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Anthropologist Michael Chazan from the University of Toronto said:
"The analysis pushes the timing for the human use of fire back by 300,000 years, suggesting that human ancestors as early as Homo erectus may have begun using fire as part of their way of life.”
During previous excavations of the Wonderwerk Cave, vast evidence of human occupation has been discovered. A more recent study has been analysing the material discovered in the earlier excavation and new field work on the Wonderwerk Cave has been carried out.
Michael Chazan said:
“The control of fire would have been a major turning point in human evolution."
“The impact of cooking food is well documented, but the impact of control over fire would have touched all elements of human society."
"Socializing around a camp fire might actually be an essential aspect of what makes us human.”
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