Evidence Suggests Humans Used Fire 1.8 Million Years Ago

The use of fire by early humans, long considered a pivotal moment in our evolutionary journey, may have occurred much earlier than previously thought. New research published in the journal PLOS One suggests that our ancestors could have been harnessing fire as far back as 1.8 million years ago.

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The use of fire is considered a decisive event that led to brain development.

This groundbreaking study, led by an international team including Dr. Liora Kolska Horwitz from the National Natural History Museum of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem and Professor Michael Chazan from the University of Toronto, utilized novel analytical methods. The focus was on fossilized owl pellets found in the Wonderwerk Cave, located in the Kalahari Desert of South Africa. This site has been a source of prehistoric artifacts since the 1940s.

Previous evidence for controlled fire use by ancient humans dated back to around 400,000 years ago from a Neanderthal site in Britain. The oldest evidence of fire use was found in a million-year-old geological layer at Wonderwerk Cave. However, the new research examined layers dating between 1.08 million and 1.79 million years ago, situated beneath the layer containing the million-year-old evidence.

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The evidence suggests that early humans may have used fire as far back as 1.8 million years ago.

Within these older layers, the researchers identified color and texture variations in fossilized owl pellets that indicated burning. Owl pellets are the regurgitated remains of prey, such as bones and fur. Using both infrared spectroscopy and a new luminescence technique, they analyzed bone fragments within the pellets. The luminescence method, which detects the emission of long-wavelength light when exposed to short-wavelength light, confirmed that 32 bone fragments from the 11th layer showed signs of burning. The researchers believe the pellets were likely brought into the cave from a burning grass pile, suggesting controlled fire use rather than natural wildfires, especially given the location about 30 meters from the cave entrance.

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The pellets were likely brought into the cave from a burning grass pile, suggesting artificial fire use.

While the exact species of early human responsible remains unknown, the researchers suggest it was likely Homo erectus, based on the characteristics of other artifacts found at the site. However, they caution that there is no evidence yet to indicate cooking or other complex activities associated with fire use. The team plans to investigate even deeper layers of the cave for further evidence.

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It is difficult to determine which species lived in the cave at the time, but the characteristics of the excavated artifacts suggest it was likely Homo erectus.