Scientists Trace 780,000-Year-Old Campfires to Driftwood in Israel, Linking Fuel Supply to Settlement
Updated
Updated · SciTechDaily · Jun 13
Scientists Trace 780,000-Year-Old Campfires to Driftwood in Israel, Linking Fuel Supply to Settlement
2 articles · Updated · SciTechDaily · Jun 13
Summary
266 charcoal fragments from Gesher Benot Ya’aqov in northern Israel show Acheulian hominins burned lakeshore driftwood about 780,000 years ago, giving rare direct evidence of how some of the earliest fire users sourced fuel.
The wood appears to have washed up along ancient Lake Hula, providing an easy, reliable firewood supply that researchers say may have helped draw groups back to the site across more than 20 occupation layers.
Charcoal clusters overlapped with fish remains—especially large carp teeth—supporting evidence that controlled fire was used there for cooking as well as warmth and light.
The assemblage also identified ash, willow, olive, oak, pistachio and pomegranate, with the pomegranate fragments marking the earliest known evidence of the fruit tree in the Levant.
Published in Quaternary Science Reviews, the study argues that local fuel availability shaped early human settlement and reflects advanced planning around fire, food processing and repeated occupation.
How did the simple act of collecting driftwood for fire dictate where early humans lived for millennia?
What does cooking fish 800,000 years ago reveal about the true cognitive abilities of our ancestors?
Strategic Fire Use and Fish Cooking by Early Humans at Gesher Benot Ya’aqov, 780,000 Years Ago
Overview
Recent research published in 2026 reveals that early humans at Gesher Benot Ya’aqov, around 780,000 years ago, used fire in a sophisticated and strategic way. Detailed spatial analysis at the site uncovered dense clusters of charcoal directly overlapping with concentrations of fish remains, especially large carp teeth. This precise alignment strongly suggests that these ancient people were cooking fish using carefully controlled fire. The charcoal assemblage from the site provides a rare chance to explore how early fire use was connected to environmental conditions and the behavior of hominins during the Middle Pleistocene.