Ice Age Humans Built Advanced Hearths Using Sophisticated Fire Techniques

How Ice Age Humans Mastered Fire During the Coldest Era in History

Learn more about how a geoarchaeological discovery from 26,000 years ago is rewriting the history of fire.

Fire and Ice: sophisticated fire technology used by ancient humans in the Ice Age

Ice Age hearths in Ukraine have been studied using innovative archaeological techniques to better understand how ancient humans used fire. Human ancestors have been using fire for a long time. Homo erectus may have been the first human to control fire up to 2 million years ago. There is evidence from nearly 800,000 years ago of humans using fire to cook food. Controlling fire is considered one of the cornerstones of human evolutionary and social…

Sophisticated pyrotechnology in the Ice Age: This is how humans made fire tens of thousands of years ago

Whether for cooking, heating, as a light source or for making tools -- it is assumed that fire was essential for the survival of people in the Ice Age. However, it is puzzling that hardly any well-preserved evidence of fireplaces from the coldest period of the Ice Age in Europe has been found so far. A group of scientists has now been able to shed some light on the mystery of Ice Age fire. Their analysis of three hearths at a prehistoric site in…

Ice age humans built sophisticated fireplaces

Some structures could withstand over 1,112 degrees Fahrenheit.

Ice Age Fire Masters: How Ancient Humans Maintained Advanced Flames During Earth's Coldest Period

Stone Age humans mastered fire technology during Earth's harshest climate period 23,000 years ago, creating hearths that reached temperatures of 600°C—comparable to modern campfires.

Sophisticated pyrotechnology in the Ice Age: How humans made fire tens of thousands of years ago

Whether for cooking, heating, as a light source or for making tools—it is assumed that fire was essential for the survival of people in the Ice Age. However, it is puzzling that hardly any well-preserved evidence of fireplaces from the coldest period of the Ice Age in Europe has been found so far.