Humanity would not have achieved anything without fire – its discovery was the main technological breakthrough in the entire history of civilization. But when exactly did people first start using it? Portal arstechnica.com speak about a scientific work that has found the answer – much sooner than we thought.
The excavation site in Barnam, England is part of an abandoned clay pit where workers first found stone tools in the early 20th century. But 400,000 years ago, it must have looked different: an idyllic place next to a pond with a small river running into it, surrounded by forests and fields. There are no hominin skulls in the area, but archaeologists have found a Neanderthal skull 100km south of Barnam. That is, most likely, this place was once a relatively quiet stopover for Neanderthals.
According to archaeologists, the center of this site is a hearth the size of a small fire. Today, only a patch of fire-red clay deposits reminds us of it – it stands out against the yellow clay in other areas of the site. When ancient fireplaces were lit, the fire heated the iron-saturated yellow clay, leading to the formation of small pieces of hematite, giving the fired clay its red color.
And there, among the clay, scientists found two small pieces of a shiny sulfide mineral – pyrite, which was the most important tool of the Stone Age. Before people learned to strike flint against flint to create sparks, they pounded flint and pyrite. Therefore, archaeologists' findings show that Neanderthals built and lit fires 400,000 years ago.
Although lighting a fire today is not complicated, in the distant past it required extremely advanced technology. The discovery of fire and the techniques to control its size and temperature was a breakthrough that paved the way for almost every other technology. Stone tools, cooking, metallurgy – and even microprocessors or heavy cargo rockets.
In addition, fire also gives people something unique – more time. Fireplaces served as social places where ancient people could socialize after dark. From them, our ancestors developed language and mythology, which in turn played an important role in maintaining social relationships over long distances or in complex social groups.
For these reasons, archaeologists have long tried to figure out exactly when this discovery occurred – many agree that fire was discovered at different times in different parts of the world. The problem is that finding evidence of the fire is difficult; They are ephemeral in nature. The small piece of burnt clay at Barnama has not seen fire in half a million years.
Scientists suspect that the first hominids to domesticate fire were resourceful in exploiting forest fires. For example, some Homo erectus may have picked up a burning branch in the wilderness, then carefully carried it back to camp to cook food from the fire or to ward off predators at night. Evidence of this use of fire dates back more than a million years ago – they have been found in Kenya and South Africa.
But lighting a fire at will, at the right time, is much more difficult – but also more important for life if you want to cook food today without having to wait for a bolt of lightning to accidentally ignite a bush. Neanderthals in Europe probably began using fire about 400,000 years ago, based on the remains of hearths in France, Portugal, Spain and England. But at none of these sites have archaeologists found signs that Neanderthals started fires themselves. Similar cases began to occur only 50,000 years ago, based on pyrite fragments and hand axes – ancient silicon tools – found in France.
The find discovered at Barnama has significantly extended this time frame; You can certainly find more ancient evidence that Neanderthals mastered fire earlier than we think.
Some evidence suggests the fire should have been started. First of all, wildfires leave traces in sediment that can last for thousands of years – microscopic particles of charcoal and ash. But the fire in Barnama broke out when the area was not yet in the middle of bushfire season. Additionally, chemical evidence, such as the presence of heavy carbon molecules in the rock beneath the fireplace, suggests the fire was caused by a house fire.
But of course, the most important confirmation of this theory is pyrite. It cannot be said that it is a common natural mineral in the Barnama region; Neanderthals would have had to travel at least 12 kilometers southeast to find it. And while few people can resist the temptation to pick up a shiny pebble, pieces of pyrite may have more practical uses.
