Human evolution; Early fire use (Introduction)

by David Turell , Saturday, December 03, 2022, 01:05 (719 days ago) @ David Turell

In South African Naledi:

https://www.sciencenews.org/article/homo-naledi-fire-hominid-cave-human-evolution

"An ancient hominid dubbed Homo naledi may have lit controlled fires in the pitch-dark chambers of an underground cave system, new discoveries hint.

"Researchers have found remnants of small fireplaces and sooty wall and ceiling smudges in passages and chambers throughout South Africa’s Rising Star cave complex, paleoanthropologist Lee Berger announced in a December 1 lecture hosted by the Carnegie Institution of Science in Washington, D.C.

“'Signs of fire use are everywhere in this cave system,” said Berger, of the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg.

"H. naledi presumably lit the blazes in the caves since remains of no other hominids have turned up there, the team says. But the researchers have yet to date the age of the fire remains. And researchers outside Berger’s group have yet to evaluate the new finds.

"H. naledi fossils date to between 335,000 and 236,000 years ago, around the time Homo sapiens originated. Many researchers suspect that regular use of fire by hominids for light, warmth and cooking began roughly 400,000 years ago

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"Still, the main challenge for investigators will be to date the burned wood and bones and other fire remains from the Rising Star chambers and demonstrate that the fireplaces there come from the same sediment layers as H. naledi fossils, says paleoanthropologist W. Andrew Barr of George Washington University in Washington, D.C., who wasn’t involved in the work."

Comment: it is always interesting to learn how ancient Homos learned to deal with fire. The naledi don't fit the picture with erectus in the bush of homos/hominins.