Fire Control by Early Humans 4
Fire Control by Early Humans 4 : Middle Paleolithic Evidence: (1) Africa: The earliest definitive evidence of human control of fire was found at Swartkrans, South Africa. Several burnt bones were found among Acheulean tools, bone tools, and bones with hominid-inflicted cut marks. This site also shows some of the earliest evidence of carnivory in H. erectus. The Cave of Hearths in South Africa has burned deposits dated from 200,000 to 700,000 BP, as do various other sites such as Montagu Cave (58,000 to 200,000 BP) and at the Klasies River Mouth (120,000 to 130,000 BP). The strongest evidence comes from Kalambo Falls in Zambia where several artifacts related to the use of fire by humans had been recovered including charred logs, charcoal, reddened areas, carbonized grass stems and plants, and wooden implements which may have been hardened by fire. The site was dated through radiocarbon dating to be at 61,000 BP and 110,000 BP through amino acid racemization. Fire was used to heat treat silcrete stones to increase their workability before they were knapped into tools by Stillbay culture. This research identifies this not only with Stillbay sites that date back to 72,000 BP but sites that could be as old as 164,000 BP. (2) Asia: Zhoukoudian Caves, a World Heritage Site and an early site of human use of fire in China. At Qesem Cave 12 km east of Tel-Aviv evidence exists of the regular use of fire from before 382,000 BP to around 200,000 BP at the end of Lower Pleistocene. The large quantities of burnt bone and moderately heated soil lumps suggest butchering and prey-defleshing took place near fireplaces. At Zhoukoudian in China, evidence of fire is as early as 230,000 to 460,000 BP. Fire in Zhoukoudian is suggested by the presence of burned bones, burned chipped-stone artifacts, charcoal, ash, and hearths alongside H. erectus fossils in Layer 10 at Locality 1
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