Humanity's Relationship with Fire Dates Back Further Than Thought

A new study conducted in South Africa has revealed that human ancestors may have used fire around 1.8 million years ago. These findings push back the known history of fire use by hundreds of thousands of years. Researchers led by the University of Toronto discovered evidence of fire use dating back approximately 1.8 million years during their examination of the Wonderwerk Cave in South Africa. The results of the study were published in the journal PLOS One. The findings indicate a period hundreds of thousands of years earlier than the previously detected evidence of fire use in the same cave, which dated back around 1 million years. Michael Chazan, the leader of the research team and a professor at the University of Toronto, stated, "I am quite confident that this dates back to between 1.7 and 1.8 million years ago." The researchers applied a luminescence-based dating method to bone remains left by barn owls found in the same layer as the fire signs in the cave. The researchers believe that the Homo erectus species, which used the cave during that period, did not start the fires themselves. Chazan explained, "This was not humans creating fire, but rather taking a naturally occurring fire and using it." He noted that Homo erectus is thought to have used fire only occasionally. The researchers believe that this discovery could make significant contributions to understanding human evolution and how the use of fire in daily life began.