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In African cave, Israeli, international scientists find signs of earliest use of fire <p>Evidence of burns was detected on fossilized bones deep in the Wonderwerk Cave, setting back the clock for intentional use of fire from 1 million years ago to close to 1.8 million</p> <p>The post <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/in-african-cave-israeli-international-scientists-find-signs-of-earliest-use-of-fire/">In African cave, Israeli, international scientists find signs of earliest use of fire</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com">The Times of Israel</a>.</p> <figure><img src="https://static-cdn.toi-media.com/www/uploads/2021/04/Wonderwerk-Cave_Credit-Michael-Chazan-e1781622983195-1024x640.jpg" title="In African cave, Israeli, international scientists find signs of earliest use of fire" border="0" width="160" height="100" class="type:primaryImage"></figure>

Ancient Fire Record Rewritten: Researchers Push Earliest Evidence of ... 15 June, 2026 A new study has uncovered evidence that early human ancestors were using fire in South Africa's Wonderwerk Cave between 1.07 and 1.79 million years ago, extending the chronology of one of the earliest known records of fire use associated with hominins. By applying a new method that detects traces of burning in fossil bones, researchers found signs of repeated fire use deep inside the cave, far beyond the reach of natural wildfires. The findings suggest that early humans were bringing naturally occurring fire into the cave and maintaining it there, providing new insights into how our ancestors first began to harness one of the most important tools in human history. A new study has uncovered evidence that early human ancestors were using fire far earlier than previously confirmed, with traces of fire use dating to between 1.07 and 1.79 million years ago in South Africa's Wonderwerk Cave. The study was part of an ongoing collaboration between Dr. Liora Kolska Horwitz of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem's National Natural History Collections ( co-director of the Wonderwerk Cave project with Prof M…

Archaeologists Discover Earliest Evidence of Humans Using Tools to Make ... Archaeologists Discover Earliest Evidence of Humans Using Tools to Make Fire Humans 11 December 2025 By Tessa Koumoundouros Add ScienceAlert on Google (Toa Heftiba/Unsplash) The taming of fire is credited with sparking humanity's evolutionary journey towards our modern levels of intelligence. Fire gave early humans access to a broader range of safe foods, fueling the development of larger brains and paving the way for the birth of Homo sapiens, so the cooking hypothesis goes . A new discovery of baked sediments, artifacts, and pieces of firelighting pyrite in a UK claypit suggests that humans already had the capacity to create fire more than 400,000 years ago. "This extraordinary discovery pushes this turning point back by some 350,000 years," says British Museum archaeologist Rob Davis. "The implications are enormous. The ability to create and control fire is one of the most critical turning points in human history, with practical and social benefits that changed human evolution." Related: Modern Humans Thrived While Neanderthals Disappeared, But Not Due to Our Brains Artist's impression of sparks from fl…

Wonderwerk Cave bones reveal possible fire use by human ancestors 1.79 ... June 7, 2026 report Wonderwerk Cave bones reveal possible fire use by human ancestors 1.79 million years ago by Paul Arnold , Phys.org edited by Gaby Clark , reviewed by Robert Egan Editors' notes This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: fact-checked peer-reviewed publication trusted source proofread The GIST Add as preferred source Credit: José Antonio Peñas (SINC) The discovery of fire was a major milestone in human evolution, giving our ancestors a way to stay warm, ward off predators, and eventually start cooking food. But exactly when this first happened is still intensely debated, as unambiguous evidence is difficult to find. However, new research from a cave in South Africa is now pushing back the current timeline of our history with fire by hundreds of thousands of years. Archaeological treasure trove The discovery was made in Wonderwerk Cave, an archaeological site that has revealed a wealth of ancient secrets in recent yea…

Ancient fire record rewritten: Researchers push earliest evidence of ... The Hebrew University of Jerusalem — A new study* has uncovered evidence that early human ancestors were using fire in South Africa’s Wonderwerk Cave between 1.07 and 1.79 million years ago, extending the chronology of one of the earliest known records of fire use associated with hominins. By applying a new method that detects traces of burning in fossil bones, researchers found signs of repeated fire use deep inside the cave, far beyond the reach of natural wildfires. The findings suggest that early humans were bringing naturally occurring fire into the cave and maintaining it there, providing new insights into how our ancestors first began to harness one of the most important tools in human history. A new study has uncovered evidence that early human ancestors were using fire far earlier than previously confirmed, with traces of fire use dating to between 1.07 and 1.79 million years ago in South Africa’s Wonderwerk Cave. The study was part of an ongoing collaboration between Dr. Liora Kolska Horwitz of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem’s National Natural History Collections ( co-director of the Wonderwerk …

Ancient fire record rewritten: Researchers push earliest evidence of ... image: Wonderwerk Cave Entrance view more Credit: Wonderwerk Cave Project A new study has uncovered evidence that early human ancestors were using fire in South Africa's Wonderwerk Cave between 1.07 and 1.79 million years ago, extending the chronology of one of the earliest known records of fire use associated with hominins. By applying a new method that detects traces of burning in fossil bones, researchers found signs of repeated fire use deep inside the cave, far beyond the reach of natural wildfires. The findings suggest that early humans were bringing naturally occurring fire into the cave and maintaining it there, providing new insights into how our ancestors first began to harness one of the most important tools in human history. A new study has uncovered evidence that early human ancestors were using fire far earlier than previously confirmed, with traces of fire use dating to between 1.07 and 1.79 million years ago in South Africa's Wonderwerk Cave. The study was part of an ongoing collaboration between Dr. Liora Kolska Horwitz of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem's National Natural History Collecti…

Early humans used fire in Wonderwerk Cave up to 1.8 million years ago New evidence fromSouth Africa’s Wonderwerk Cave suggests early humans were using fire inside caves far earlier than many archaeologists once believed. A study published in PLOS One reports signs of repeated fire use in deposits dating between about 1.07 million and 1.79 million years ago, making the site one of the oldest known records of hominin fire use. Wonderwerk Cave has attracted scientific attention for decades because of its long record of human occupation. Earlier research identified traces of burning in layers dating to aroundone million years ago. The new study examined deeper deposits and found evidence pointing to an even older history of fire use. Researchers analyzed 161 fossilized bones from small mammals recovered from two Early Pleistocene layers known as Strata 10 and 11. Many of these animals likely entered the cave through barn owl activity. Owls often left pellets on the cave floor, creating deposits that accumulated over thousands of years. Some of those remains later came into contact with fire. To determine whether the bones had been heated, scientists combined two separate techniques…

New study finds hominids used fire 700,000 years earlier than ... The elusive and ancient Wonderwerk Cave has attracted scientific attention for decades for its early human use, but a new study found even older traces of fire in this location. As the lead author stated from the National Museum of Natural Sciences in Madrid, “this is a study of great interest to global prehistory, as it addresses one of the most significant topics for humanity: fire.” In a new study published inPLOS, researchers analyzed 161 fossils with a new rapid and non-destructive protocol, based on stimulating the bone remains with an external energy source, called luminescence. Science Media Centrecontinues that study authors applied this new methodology to the bones of small animals that were part of pellets, or “the undigested and regurgitated remains of prey of nocturnal birds of prey.” These bones mixed in with these pellets, 1.8 million years old, exhibited signs of having been burned, so the team behind the study is proposing that these pellets were used to make fire inside the Wonderwerk Café, at deeper layers (meaning time) than they thought. The fossils came from small mammals that researchers …

Israeli scientists find earliest use of fire in Miracle Cave Israeli scientists find earliest use of fire in Miracle Cave Published 5 years ago on May 6, 2021 By Tali Feinberg Israeli scientists have uncovered secrets of our evolution deep in a cave in the Kalahari Desert. A group of scholars from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem’s Institute of Earth Sciences and the University of Toronto took an exciting step in understanding more about early human activity dating back millions of years. This was due to extensive work in the Wonderwerk (Miracle) Cave in the Kalahari. This includes the uses of tools and fire. The cave is situated in an ancient cavity in the dolomite rocks of the Kuruman Hills, between Daniëlskuil and Kuruman in the Northern Cape. “New research has enabled our team to confirm the age of some critical events in the Wonderwerk Cave,” says Dr Liora Kolska Horwitz, an affiliate researcher with the Hebrew University’s National Natural History Collections. “Using new methods, we have dated the lowest level of the cave with evidence of occupation by prehistoric humans to 1.8 million years ago. In the layer immediately above this that is now dated to between 1.8 million …