Burned 1.8 Million-Year-Old Bones Push Homo Erectus Fire Control Back 80,000 Years
Updated
Updated · WION · Jun 15
Burned 1.8 Million-Year-Old Bones Push Homo Erectus Fire Control Back 80,000 Years
3 articles · Updated · WION · Jun 15
Summary
Wonderwerk Cave bones dated to as much as 1.79 million years ago suggest Homo erectus was controlling fire at least 80,000 years earlier than the roughly 1 million-year benchmark.
Researchers analyzed 161 fossilized small-mammal bones and found heat damage, then used a non-destructive luminescence test that made burned bones glow red and ruled out mineral staining.
Nearly 100 feet inside the South African cave, the remains were too deep for a natural wildfire to have reached, leading the team to conclude hominins brought fire into the cave themselves.
The study argues Homo erectus likely did not make fire yet, but harvested natural flames and kept them smoldering with dry owl pellets and other cave debris as fuel.
Published in PLOS One, the finding could reshape the timeline of a pivotal human behavior that transformed hominins' relationship with their environment.
A new light technique found humanity's oldest campfire. What other secrets from our deep past can this technology now expose?
Homo erectus harvested fire but couldn't make it. How did they manage the immense challenge of keeping a flame alive?
Wonderwerk Cave Pushes Back Earliest Evidence of Human Fire Use to 1 Million Years Ago
Overview
A groundbreaking study published in June 2026 revealed new evidence from South Africa's Wonderwerk Cave, significantly reshaping our understanding of when early hominins first mastered fire. The research strengthened the case for much earlier fire management by hominins and extended the timeline of one of the world’s earliest paleo-fire records. Findings showed that early human ancestors were managing fire during the Early Pleistocene (Acheulean) period, pushing back the timeline for this critical behavioral innovation. The discovery centered on clear traces of early fire use, such as burned bones, found within two ancient deposits at Wonderwerk Cave.