Scientists conducted excavations at the Barnham quarry in Suffolk County.
During excavations in Suffolk County in eastern England, scientists found pyrite and flint, which were apparently used by ancient people to ignite fires nearly 400,000 years ago. The archaeologists who made the discovery believe they have found the oldest material evidence of intentional fire-making in the world.
The ability to control fire is one of the key technologies that shaped the course of humanity. Fire provided warmth, protection from predators, made cooking possible, and helped create a special social space — a place that became the first true venue for communication, relaxation, and possibly the birth of culture, language, and collective living.
Experts believe that human ancestors began using fire at least 1.5 million years ago, although they likely only utilized the gifts of nature rather than intentionally igniting it. For example, they may have used existing flames that arose from natural wildfires. Controlling and, moreover, producing fire at will is a qualitatively different, revolutionary skill.
For a long time, the age of the earliest evidence of fire-making was estimated to be around 50,000 years. Indirect signs of intentional fire ignition were noted earlier in time, but the decisive argument — material remains of the process itself — was lacking. The question of when exactly humans stopped being keepers of another's fire and became its creators remained open. The search for an answer was complicated by the difficulty of distinguishing traces of a fire lit by humans from the aftermath of a natural fire.
An international team of archaeologists led by Nick Ashton from the British Museum in London appears to have found the earliest evidence of human fire control to date. The scientists reported this in an article published in the journal Nature.
Ashton and his colleagues conducted excavations at the Barnham quarry in Suffolk County. They investigated a site nearly 400,000 years old. At this site, which was likely occupied by Neanderthals or their ancestors, researchers found three key types of evidence for intentional fire ignition.
The first and most important group of evidence consisted of two small fragments of the mineral pyrite. When struck against flint, pyrite produces abundant sparks capable of igniting dry moss or grass. Geological surveys showed that pyrite is not found in the Barnham quarry area. It is likely that people brought pyrite to the site intentionally.
The second piece of evidence was a layer of reddish sediment — a trace, scientists believe, of an ancient fire pit. Burning alters the magnetic properties of iron-containing minerals in the soil. Laboratory analyses of the red clay layer showed that it had been heated multiple times: researchers estimate about 12 times. This indicates systematic, repeated use of the same location by people for kindling a fire.
