Humans used fire 1 million years ago

Washington, April 3 (ANI): Researchers have found the earliest known evidence of the use of fire by human ancestors in South Africa's Wonderwerk Cave.

Microscopic traces of wood ash, alongside animal bones and stone tools, were discovered in a layer dated to one million years ago at the cave.

"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," said University of Toronto anthropologist Michael Chazan, co-director of the project and director of U of T's Archaeology Centre.

Wonderwerk is a massive cave located near the edge of the Kalahari where earlier excavations by Peter Beaumont of the McGregor Museum in Kimberley, South Africa, had uncovered an extensive record of human occupation.

A research project, co-directed by U of T's Chazan and Liora Kolska Horwitz of Hebrew University, has been doing detailed analysis of the material from Beaumont's excavation along with renewed fieldwork on the Wonderwerk site.

Analysis of sediment by lead authors Francesco Berna and Paul Goldberg of Boston University revealed plant ash and burned bone fragments, both which appear to have been burned locally rather than carried into the cave by wind or water.

The researchers also found extensive evidence of surface discoloration that is typical of burning.

"The control of fire would have been a major turning point in human evolution," stated Chazan.

"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," he said.

The scientists detailed their findings online April 2 in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. (ANI)