How and when did humans start using fire?

By Sarah K Hlubik

About This Project

I will conduct a series of experiments looking at fire micro-residues in modern and archaeological contexts to determine expectations of intentional fires and compare results to FxJj20 AB, Koobi Fora, Kenya, a site dated to 1.6 Mega annum, where burned bone and sediments have been identified. I will determine the what evidence can be expected and whether that evidence will preserve over time, forming the basis for future fire studies in archaeological contexts.

What is the context of this research?

This project is part of a larger research project investigating the origins of fire use in the human lineage. While some researchers think that regular fire use didn't begin until 350-50 thousand years ago 1, there is evidence in the human paleontological record to suggest that fire use may have been responsible for the evolution of modern human body forms, beginning with Homo erectus around 2 million years ago 2. The larger body and brain size of H erectus, along with smaller teeth and guts indicate an increase in diet quality, possibly from cooking food, which increases digestibility and caloric return of food, and reduces toxins and pathogens. This research adds another tool for discovering how and when our ancestors began using fire, a critical question in human evolution.

What is the significance of this project?

The methodology proposed for this project has been successfully used in later contexts, and cave sites, where evidence is more likely to preserve. We know that it is possible for these micro-residues to preserve in very ancient contexts outside of caves, but we do not understand the relationship of these micro-residues to behaviors that can be demonstrated in the archaeological record. This project will look at micro-residues in modern contexts resulting from specific fire-using behaviors in comparison to the background signature of the environment, and then apply the data from the experiments to an archaeological site where fire has been identified through bone and sediment. This will look at issues of preservation and movement of the microscopic particles through time and space.

What are the goals of the project?

The project will set experimental fires, some with experimentally produced stone tools. I will sample the sediments within and around the fire and sample burned and unburned tools to determine if micro-residues recovered within the intentional fires are different from the micro-residues recovered outside the fires. When this is established, I will sample sediment and stone from an archaeological site where fire has been identified by clusters of burned bone and sediment. Samples from the site will be taken from within and outside the clusters on site as well as from areas around the side where no archaeology has been found 1. The results will allow me to identify whether the evidence found with site can be related to the patterns observed in the modern contexts.

https://experiment.com/projects/how-and-when-did-humans-start-using-fire