Humans Had Fire 1M Years Ago

Archeologist say they've found earliest evidence of human fire use
By Kevin Spak,  Newser Staff
Posted Apr 3, 2012 9:41 AM CDT
Humans Had Fire 1M Years Ago
Paul Goldberg takes samples in Excavation 1 at Wonderwerk Cave in South Africa, where scientists say they've found evidence of mankind's earliest known usage of fire.   (AP Photo/courtesy of Michael Chazan)

Scientists believe they've uncovered the earliest known evidence of human fire usage. Charred bones and plant ash sediment found in Wonderwerk Cave in South Africa suggest that Homo erectus was playing with fire a whopping 1 million years ago, more than twice as far back as previous evidence had indicated, according to a study published yesterday by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Indeed, these early humans may even have been cooking.

There is convincing evidence that mankind had fire 400,000 years ago, the LA Times explains, but scientists are divided on how much earlier it struck its first sparks. To determine that these newly found bone fragments had indeed been burned, scientists examined them under infrared light to examine their mineral structure. Since the bones were deep within the cave, they were likely not burned by some accidental wildfire, though researchers admit they didn't find a smoking gun like a hearth. (More fire stories.)

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