Mastery of fire was a key breakthrough in mankind’s development and set him on the road to civilisation.
Mastery of fire was a key breakthrough in mankind’s development and set him on the road to civilisation.
It kept him warm in cold climates, allowing him to spread much further than before.
It offered him protection against predators and enabled him for the first time to cook.
There is plenty of dispute over when this development took place, but it seems likely not to have happened until at least around 450,000 BC and was widespread by around 125,000 BC.
Humans long before that were no strangers to fire. Lightning will often have sparked terrifying infernos — and the initial challenge was to control them.
It is possible that this was achieved by Homo Erectus as early as 1.4 million BC.
Fossil sites in Africa which date back that far, and where burned animal bones have been discovered, seem to bear this out.
Controlling a fire started by nature is one thing, actually having the skill to start a fire and use it is another — and this transition is thought to have taken hundreds of thousands of years.
The oldest hearths yet found, in Germany, Hungary and China, date back at the earliest to 450,000 BC and possibly as late as 300,000 BC.
It is not known exactly how early humans started their fires.
The two most likely methods are through creating sparks by striking a piece of flint against iron pyrites or by building up intense heat through friction by drilling into wood.
Once achieved, fire became an essential tool.
It enabled Homo Sapiens, who was physically adapted only for the tropics of Africa, to spread throughout Europe around 200,000 BC.
Though early humans were already using caves for shelter, fire made that much easier, providing heat and light.
Homo Sapiens, including the Neanderthals, learned to use fire in combat or to corner prey during a hunt.
It was used to scare off predators and allowed activities to take place at night.
The ability to cook food was a great advantage — and had a direct effect on mankind’s physical development.
In the harsh climate of Europe 300,000 years ago, game would often freeze after being killed and thus cooking became essential, if only to thaw food out.
Cooked meat needs far less cutting and gnawing than raw meat — and gradually mankind’s need for large teeth to rip and laboriously chew flesh became less and less.
One of the significant physical differences between Homo Erectus and Homo Sapiens is that the latter had a much smaller jaw and teeth.
The cooked protein was easier to digest and its calories easier to absorb.
Some scientists also believe certain roots and vegetation may have been made edible for the first time by cooking.
Much later, with the advent of agriculture around 8,000 BC, farmers used fire to clear fields and produce ash to act as fertiliser.
