The Earliest Evidence Of Making Fire Has Been Discovered, Dating To 400,000 Years Ago

Never mind AI, the internet, or the rocket – it's been argued that the control of fire was the most pivotal technological breakthrough in history. It gave our ancestors protection, the ability to cook food, and a reason to gather, transforming our genus from knuckle-dragging beasts to social creatures. Why do you think the gods were so pissed at Prometheus? Now, the timeline of fire mastery has been rewritten.

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Archaeologists believe they have unearthed the earliest-known evidence of controlled fire-making by humans, dating to around 400,000 years ago. 

A team of researchers led by the British Museum found the evidence in a field near the village of Barnham in Suffolk, UK. Within the soil, they found a patch of evidence that had been repeatedly baked. 

Their geochemical tests show the patch had been heated to over 700°C (1,292°F) time and time again. This strongly suggests it was a campfire, or hearth, that had been used by people on several occasions, not just the product of wildfire.

Affirming their suspicions, the researchers found several handaxes that had been heat-cracked. Furthermore, they found two fragments of iron pyrite (aka fool's gold) at the site. This mineral, which is rare in the local region, sparks when it’s struck with flint, leading the researchers to suggest it was actively brought to the site for the sole purpose of fire-making.

The findings blow apart the accepted timeline of human fire-use, a topic that's hotly debated among archaeologists and anthropologists. 

Burnt bones and prehistoric charred material in Africa suggest human ancestors harnessed the power of natural wildfire well over 1 million years ago. However, this recent discovery in Barnham shows vivid evidence of something more remarkable. These early humans weren’t merely taking advantage of naturally occurring flames; they were masters of fire, using skill and knowledge to create and control it as far back as 400,000 years ago.

Until now, the oldest conclusive evidence of complex fire-making like this was a mere 50,000 years old, with disputed findings suggesting there was some fire-making occurring between 245,000 to 400,000 years ago. Either way, the new findings from Barnham are robust and exceptionally old.

“The implications are enormous. The ability to create and control fire is one of the most important turning points in human history with practical and social benefits that changed human evolution,” Dr Rob Davis, lead study author and Project Curator: Pathways to Ancient Britain at the British Museum, said in a statement seen by IFLScience. 

“This extraordinary discovery pushes this turning point back by some 350,000 years.”

Bear in mind, our species didn't make it to this part of the world until 40,000 years ago. There's currently no evidence that Homo sapiens had even emerged 400,000 years ago. This means the fire pit in Barnham was created by another species of human that had recently evolved in Eurasia: Neanderthals. 

“The people who made fire at Barnham at 400,000 years ago were probably early Neanderthals, based on the morphology of fossils around the same age from Swanscombe, Kent, and Atapuerca in Spain, who even preserve early Neanderthal DNA,” said Professor Chris Stringer, Natural History Museum, London.

It's not necessarily a shock that Neanderthals were the masters of this fire pit. In recent years, a wealth of evidence has shown this "sister species" was cognitively sharp, culturally complex, and emotionally deep. 

It is surprising, however, because the earliest evidence of Neanderthals dates to just 430,000 years ago. This means that the British fire-starters were one of the groups of Neanderthals that we currently have knowledge of.

“It’s incredible that some of the oldest groups of Neanderthals had the knowledge of the properties of flint, pyrite and tinder at such an early date,” added Professor Nick Ashton, Curator of Palaeolithic Collections at the British Museum.

The study is published in the journal Nature.