Artistic illustration of flint and pyrite sparks.
It is the oldest evidence of the use of tools to deliberately light fires. Important discovery puts humans making fire 350 thousand years later than previously thought.
A set of remains discovered in a clay quarry in Barnham, United Kingdom, may date back hundreds of thousands of years to the moment when humans were able to light. fogo deliberately, a step considered highly fundamental in the evolution of our species.
The team, led by archaeologist Rob Davis, from the British Museum, identified baked sediments, heated artifacts and pyrite fragments used as a potential prehistoric lighter. Analyzes suggest that these materials must have been manipulated more than 400,000 years ago, long before the oldest evidence yet known of intentionally produced fire, which only dates back to around 50 thousand years.
Among the finds are two small fragments of oxidized pyrite, one of them next to four flint hand axes with fractures typical of exposure to high temperatures, as well as a “hearth” of reddish sediments, according to . Geological studies show that pyrite is rare in that area, which points to deliberate transport to the site with the aim of producing sparks.
The properties of the baked sediments indicate episodes of repeated heating, consistent with camp fires used over time, rather than a point fire of natural origin. According to researchers, this combination of evidence reinforces the hypothesis that human groups already mastered fire production techniques, possibly at the same time. striking stone crushers against pyrite.
The authors of the study in Nature this Wednesday attribute these remains to Neanderthals who inhabited Paleolithic England. Mastery of fire would allow them to cook regularly, preserve meat and better exploit roots and tubers, reducing the effort of digestion and increasing protein intake.
In addition to the immediate impact on diet, the researchers suggest that stable access to fire may have acted as a sociability focusfavoring coexistence in larger groups, the strengthening of social ties and, in the long term, the development of larger brains and more complex social relationships.
Artist’s illustration of a fire in Barnham around 400,000 years ago.
The same conclusion had already been reached by other studies, such as one published in Scientific Reports in 2019, sediments in Armenia suggest that Neanderthals not only controlled fire, but also mastered the ability to produce it.
