Science & Technology - Posted by Kim Luke-Toronto on Tuesday, April 3, 2012 10:37 - 2 Comments 
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(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...Cave yields earliest evidence of fire by humans
A researcher surveys the area outside Wonderwerk, a massive cave located near the edge of the Kalahari where earlier excavations had uncovered an extensive record of human occupation. (Credit: University of Toronto)
U. TORONTO (CAN) — Scientists have uncovered evidence that human ancestors used fire one million years ago—300,000 years earlier than believed.
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Microscopic traces of wood ash, alongside animal bones and stone tools, were found in a layer dated to one million years ago at the Wonderwerk Cave in South Africa. The discovery is the earliest known evidence of the use of fire by human ancestors.
“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,” says anthropologist Michael Chazan, co-director of the project and director of the Archaeology Centre at the University of Toronto. The research is reported in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
View from excavated area towards entrance of Wonderwerk Cave (Credit: R. Yates)
Cave entrance. (Credit: University of Toronto
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 Chazan and Liora Kolska Horwitz of Hebrew University, has been doing detailed analysis of the material from Beaumont’s excavation along with renewed field work on the Wonderwerk site. Analysis of sediment by lead authors Francesco Berna and Paul Goldberg of Boston University revealed ashed plant remains 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,” says 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.”
The funding for the research was provided by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, the National Science Foundation and the Wenner Gren Foundation. Research at Wonderwerk Cave is carried out in collaboration with the McGregor Museum, Kimberley and under permit for the South African Heritage Resources Agency.
More news from the University of Toronto: http://news.utoronto.ca/
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2 Comments
John Athayde
Tassos – Members of the genus Homo did exist as far back as 2.4Ma (million years)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_evolution#Genus_Homo
Homo erectus existied as far back as 1.8Ma, and the Heidelberg man as far back as 800k years. So Human ancestors did exist. And I think if you probably go to the original paper on this, they make that designation.
Humans didn’t exist 1 million years ago!!!! Just goes to show how prevalent ignorance is of our amazing evolutionary story.