Fire has been used by humans in rituals, agriculture for clearing land, for cooking, for warmth and light, and
protection from predators and mythological spirits.
Control of fire by humans involves the acquisition of these three cognitive stages: conceptualization of fire, ability to control fire, and ability to start a fire.
There is generally
accepted evidence of "microscopic traces of wood ash" from controlled fires used by
Homo erectus from 1 million years ago.
Fossils of
Homo sapiens found in Morocco dating back about 300,000 years also revealed burnt flint blades in the same layer as the skulls.
In South Africa at Pinnacle Point, two types of silcrete tools were developed between 60,000 and 80,000 years ago, using a heat treatment technique from fire. There is evidence to suggest
the technique may have been known
as early as 164,000 years ago.
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| Bifacial silcrete point from Blombos Cave, South Africa, Middle Stone Age (71,000 BCE) (scale bar = 5cm). Vincent Mourre / Inrap - Own work |
Evidence of the widespread use of controlled fire by anatomically modern humans dates to
approximately 125,000 years ago.
There is evidence that Black Kites and some
Australian native birds create fires by carrying burning twigs in their talons and dropping them away from the original wildfire, to flush out prey.
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| Black Kite, Lara, Victoria. fir0002 flagstaffotos [at] gmail.com Canon 5D II + Canon 400mm f/5.6 L - Own work |
