US EditionNeanderthals made fire 350,000 years earlier than previously thought, scientists find
The discovery at Barnham, Suffolk, reveals fire-making 350,000 years earlier than thought, involving iron pyrite use and repeated hearth fires above 700°C, researchers said.
- Published on December 10, the British Museum-led study in Nature reports fire-making evidence at Barnham, Suffolk over 400,000 years ago, pushing the timeline back 350,000 years.
- Researchers have long debated whether early hominins made fire or captured wildfires, complicating interpretation amid sparse, ambiguous evidence despite traces as early as 1.5 million years and Neanderthal claims around 40,000 years ago.
- At Barnham, excavators uncovered heated clay, heat-shattered flint handaxes, and two fragments of iron pyrite, while laboratory analyses show repeated heating above 700°C and pyrite transport.
- Study authors say intentional fire-making enabled cooking, improving nutrition and brain growth, but no hominin remains were found, so early Neanderthals or Homo heidelbergensis are plausible candidates.
- Some reviewers noted the lack of direct spark scars on pyrite and flint, while independent archaeologists called the evidence compelling amid rising European Paleolithic fire use around 400,000 years ago.
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91 Articles
British archaeologists have discovered traces of a 400,000-year-old campfire during an excavation near an English village.
Suffolk discovery unearths earliest evidence of humans using fire
A clay pit in Suffolk has become the site of a major discovery in the way humans evolved. Archaeologists have discovered the earliest evidence of human fire-making in the world. Fire-cracked flint axes, heated sediments and minerals used to light fires were found – indicating humans were making fire 350,000 years earlier than previously thought.
Earliest proof of cavemen making fire dating back 400,000 years unearthed in Suffolk
The earliest evidence of cavemen using fire has been uncovered in a groundbreaking discovery in Suffolk.Archaeologists at the site in Barnham believe they have uncovered the oldest example of deliberate fire-making by humans, dating back approximately 400,000 years."It's an astounding discovery. This is a game-changer in the field," researchers said.Two small pyrite rock fragments, each measuring around two centimetres, were discovered alongside…
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