Neandertals mastered fire-making tools 400,000 years ago
Archaeologists found flint, iron pyrite to strike it and sediments where a fire was probably built several times at an ancient site in England.
Citations
R. Davis et al. Earliest evidence of making fire. Nature. Published online December 10, 2025. doi: 10.1038/s41586-025-09855-6.
N.L. Bragazzi et al. We are what, when, and how we eat: the evolutionary impact of dietary shifts on physical and cognitive development, health, and disease. Advances in Nutrition. Vol. 15, September 2024, 100280. doi: 10.1016/j.advnut.2024.100280.
A. C. Sorensen, E. Claud and M. Soressi. Neandertal fire-making technology inferred from microwear analysis. Scientific Reports. Published online July 19, 2018. doi: 10.1038/s41598-018-28342-9.
S. Hlubik et al. Researching the nature of fire at 1.5 Mya on the site of FxJj20 AB, Koobi Fora, Kenya, using high-resolution spatial analysis and FTIR spectrometry. Current Anthropology. Vol. 58, August 2017, p. S243. doi: 10.1086/692530.
F. Berna et al. Microstratigraphic evidence of in situ fire in the Acheulean strata of Wonderwerk Cave, Northern Cape province, South Africa. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Vol. 109, May 15, 2012, p. E1215. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1117620109.
W. Roebroeks and P. Villa. On the earliest evidence for habitual use of fire in Europe. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Vol. 108, March 29, 2011, p. 5209. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1018116108.
Jay Bennett is a writer based in Copenhagen who covers space, dinosaurs and rocks, among other things. He previously worked as a science editor at National Geographic, Smithsonian and Popular Mechanics.
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