The discovery of fire by humans: a long

and convoluted process

rstb.royalsocietypublishing.org
J. A. J. Gowlett
Archaeology, Classics and Egyptology, School of Histories, Language and Cultures, University of Liverpool,
12-14 Abercromby Square, Liverpool L69 7WZ, UK

Review JAJG, 0000-0002-9064-973X

Cite this article: Gowlett JAJ. 2016 Numbers of animal species react to the natural phenomenon of fire, but only
humans have learnt to control it and to make it at will. Natural fires caused
The discovery of fire by humans: a long and
overwhelmingly by lightning are highly evident on many landscapes. Birds
convoluted process. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B 371: such as hawks, and some other predators, are alert to opportunities to catch
20150164. animals including invertebrates disturbed by such fires and similar benefits
http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2015.0164 are likely to underlie the first human involvements with fires. Early homi-
nins would undoubtedly have been aware of such fires, as are savanna
chimpanzees in the present. Rather than as an event, the discovery of fire
Accepted: 18 January 2016
use may be seen as a set of processes happening over the long term. Even-
tually, fire became embedded in human behaviour, so that it is involved in
One contribution of 24 to a discussion meeting almost all advanced technologies. Fire has also influenced human biology,
issue ‘The interaction of fire and mankind’. assisting in providing the high-quality diet which has fuelled the increase
in brain size through the Pleistocene. Direct evidence of early fire in archae-
ology remains rare, but from 1.5 Ma onward surprising numbers of sites
Subject Areas: preserve some evidence of burnt material. By the Middle Pleistocene, recog-
evolution, behaviour, cognition, nizable hearths demonstrate a social and economic focus on many sites. The
environmental science evidence of archaeological sites has to be evaluated against postulates of
biological models such as the ‘cooking hypothesis’ or the ‘social brain’,
and questions of social cooperation and the origins of language. Although
Keywords:
much remains to be worked out, it is plain that fire control has had a
fire, human evolution, archaeology, major impact in the course of human evolution.
palaeoanthropology This article is part of the themed issue ‘The interaction of fire and mankind’.

Author for correspondence:

J. A. J. Gowlett 1. Introduction
e-mail: [email protected] Fire is universally accepted as important to human life, with myriad expressions
and uses in the modern world [1–7]. It was regarded by Darwin as the greatest dis-
covery made by humanity, excepting only language [8]. Although open fire tends
to be built out of Western technology, it persists in many forms as hidden fire, as in
the internal combustion engine. Fire has underpinned the development of all
modern technologies—from ceramics, to metal working, to the nuclear industry.
This paper starts with the view that such human fire use is an offshoot or
outgrowth of far older natural fire regimes [9–15] (figure 1), and it aims to
address two main issues: when and how humans came to be engaged with
fire; and what are the main long-term impacts that their fire use has had on
the natural environment? In the first place, large numbers of lightning strikes
would have made fire evident to early humans in the form of bush fires,
even aside from other rarer forms of natural ignition such as volcanic activity
[16]. Archaeology and anthropology have often treated fire as a technological
‘add on’ or invention, but fire awareness must inevitably go back to very
early times because of the high visibility of natural fires. The early encounters
have been followed by an intensification of use which has had profound
impacts on human culture and even biology [17]. Fire has played a major
role in transforming human diet [18], and apart from its major impact on
environments, it has become socially embedded, even to the point of having
religious significance and being incorporated in ritual [1,19,20].

& 2016 The Authors. Published by the Royal Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution
License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/, which permits unrestricted use, provided the original
author and source are credited.
 as well as stone, and hence of properties of friction and heat. 2
3 modern/kindled At the same time, new finds from northern Ethiopia set the ori-

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gins of our own genus, Homo, as early as 2.8 Ma [38]. These
discoveries square with others that indicate a dispersal of homi-
natural conserved
2 nins across the Old World far earlier than was expected a few
fire limited
years ago—dates of 1.8 Ma in Georgia and eastern Syria,
1.7 Ma in northern China and more than 1.5 Ma in Java are
1 opportunistic strong indicators that the actual dispersal goes back further,
perhaps more than 2 Myr [39–43]. It has the effect of putting
anthropogenic fire hominids as far north as 408N, at this early date, indicating
time that unlike the great majority of primates they had evolved
means to cope with summer–winter seasonality.

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B 371: 20150164

Altogether, a more complex picture of early Homo has
emerged, with regional diversity, smaller brains than were
Figure 1. A putative general outline for the development of human fire use, expected, and coexistence with other hominins such as the
showing its emergence from and interchanges with natural wildfire. All robust australopithecines for at least 1.5 Myr. Stone tool
boundaries can be regarded as highly fluid: it is highly likely that there transport distances show that these animals ranged over
are different fire histories on different latitudes and continents. large territories which were often open in character [44,45].
Recent research has also given a broader picture of other pri-
mate behaviour. The sophistication of ape behaviour has
The evolution of the primates from about 70 Ma [21,22] been recognized, including their technology. In West Africa,
provides the ultimate background for encounters with fires in Pruetz and LaDuke have shown the use of wood weapons
landscapes. Their development is largely owed to the ‘angios- by savanna chimpanzees, and their awareness of fire [46].
perm revolution’ [10,11,23], in which flowering and fruiting We must be alert then to possibilities that hominins could
trees provided niches for tree-living insectivores and espe- have been interacting with fire in simple ways from an
cially frugivores as well as folivores. By 35 Ma ape-like and early date [47].
monkey-like primates had appeared. For more than 20 Myr,
recognizable apes were widespread as denizens of forests
[24]. Although lightning can on occasion cause tropical forest
fires, in general they would not have been considerably 2. Origins of interactions with fire
exposed to fire in these moist densely vegetated environments Archaeological research has tended to concentrate narrowly
[25,26]. Within the last 10 Myr, however, pivotal climate and on the presence or the absence of hearths, largely because
vegetation changes led to new habitats and new adaptations of its own focus on living sites [48]. In broader evolutionary
across the Old World, and in that context the evolution of scenarios, it is evident that we have to consider at least
the hominids [27]. Along with C4 plants such as grasses, three distinct but potentially intergrading forms of fire use:
mammal groups such as horses were able to disperse through first, fire foraging for resources across landscapes; second,
Africa [23,28,29], and tropical forest was replaced over large social/domestic hearth fire, for protection and cooking; and
areas by wooded, bushy or more open habitats. third, fires used as tools in technological process, e.g. for
The earliest hominins probably diverged from apes around firing pottery.
6–8 Ma [30], and their evolution can be seen as a response to Modern fire use is highly complex, but its origins are likely
these changes—apes who, as the final part of a Miocene ape to have been simple: a common biological rationale is that there
radiation, adapted to new wooded environments [31]. Rather is one main selective pressure for a new development of this
than apes who came down from the trees, as traditionally kind [49]. For humans, fire became important for many
seen, our ancestors were the bush country apes, and as such, reasons, including cooking, protection and warmth, but most
through the last 3 Myr especially, some of them became of these presuppose some degree of control. Fire foraging, in
exposed to more open habitats where natural fire was much contrast, demands only an attraction towards fires, in the
more prevalent and obvious. The period 6–3 Ma, the first hope of benefitting from additional resources [17,49]. For homi-
half of this evolution—the time of Ardipithecus and its relatives nins, benefits could include retrieval of birds eggs, rodents,
[32]—involved adaptations of bipedalism and life in wooded lizards and other small animals, as well as of invertebrates.
environments, accompanied by features such as reduction of Although fire does not create such resources, it renders them
jaws and teeth and lengthening of the thumb [31–33]. The far more visible, and chance cooking might well improve
second half indicates, for Homo lineages at least, a new complex their digestibility.
of adaptation committed to long ranging, open environments, Support for the primacy of foraging comes from the
meat eating and other new foods [34–36]. In this context, animal world. Although only humans have full mastery of
encounters with fire must have become far more frequent fire, and it has been said that there is no analogue, there
and significant (figure 2). are occasional instances, largely anecdotal, of mammalian
A series of recent finds has given us a changed deep pic- predators such as cheetahs positioning themselves to spring
ture of the hominins, showing that their engagement with on prey fleeing fires. Bird ‘fire followers’ are much better
technology reaches back as much as 50% of the way to homi- recorded. They amount to many species across continents
nin origins. Stone tool finds from Lomekwi 3 at West Turkana [50]. They show the availability of resources, the potential
in northern Kenya push back the hard record of technology selective advantage, and by inference that this kind of fire
from 2.6 to 3.3 Ma [37]. Such finds are important, because harvesting would be within the cognitive capabilities of
they almost certainly indicate a knowledge of working wood early hominins [51].
 Ma Pan tr. Pan pa. Homo 3
0

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inferred
language
2 wood
australopithecines
fire evidence
stone technology
4 Ardipithecus
hominins

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B 371: 20150164

LCA
8

10
Figure 2. The emergence of the hominins: chart indicating the relationships with chimpanzees and bonobos (Pan troglodytes and Pan paniscus), and the staging of
the major hominin adaptations and culture. Of these, hard technology, fire and language can be seen as ‘the big three’, deeply connected in the end and perhaps at
earlier stages. LCA, last common ancestor of hominins and Pan.

From simple interactions, the challenge to hominins would archaeological occurrences in total, but currently a maximum
be to stretch fire, both in space and time, to enhance its utility. of five preserving evidence of burning (mentioned below).
In Alaska—a reasonable proxy for parts of ice age Europe—the Fire is therefore about 10 –100 times less likely to feature
fires burn largely from June to September. Thus, fire would not than hard artefacts. In that light, it seems remarkable that
be available through the cold parts of the year, unless it could overall we do have so much fire in the record.
be maintained effectively. In Africa, the challenge might be to
maintain fires through the wet seasons. Any such efforts,
indeed almost all fire management, pushes towards a division
of labour. Slow-burning materials such as animal dung or
4. Major biological models
Fire foraging would lead inevitably to consumption of foods
plant material tapers need to be selected and guarded, while
cooked accidentally, including the ‘roots made digestible’
other subsistence activities go on.
mentioned by Darwin. The basis of the cooking hypothesis
Without doubt, natural fire was available on the landscapes
as set out by Wrangham and colleagues is that hominins
inhabited by hominins. Of the millions of lightning strikes that
living in more open environments would be unable to feed
are recorded each year [16], many lead to bush and forest fires,
through the year from the fruit and herb resources which sus-
especially at the start of a rainy season: then lightning from the
tain apes in tropical forest. They would need to adopt other
first thunder storms often strikes when much of the vegetation
foods, particularly during dry seasons [34]. Extending their
remains dry [52–58]. Most of the instances of relevance are in
use of meat and particularly of carbohydrates in the form
forest, woodland and savanna, but the fire regimes operate sur-
of roots and tubers would be necessary for filling this gap
prisingly far north. Farukh & Hayasaka [59] give the example
[35,36,60]. Large teeth—megadonty—hint at dietary stress
of Alaska, where up to 100 fires are burning on a given day
in the period before 3 Ma, and isotopic studies at the incor-
in the summer season, and important for hominins, they
poration of new foods such as grasses and sedges [61,62].
have an average duration of more than 20 days.
From as early as 2.6 Ma, increased meat eating is well attested
by archaeological sites that link stone tools and cut-marked
bones [44,63].
3. Sampling the record of early fire But the new foods are hard to digest. Cooking greatly
In total, the early archaeological record documents many increases their digestibility: in the view of Wrangham and col-
thousands of events of hominin activity, but the chances of leagues, this would have come with Homo erectus at about
fire being preserved are exceptionally small. This is in part 1.7 Ma [64–66]. Part of the evidence advanced is that a
because of its ‘disappearing act’—there remain scant traces modern human body plan emerges at this time, with features
of burning, rather than the fire itself [5]—and partly because including lengthened hindlimbs [67], and reduction of sexual
of the overall low density of sampling. As stone tools endure dimorphism [68]. In particular, the teeth of Homo erectus are
far better, their record is full enough to give some insights reduced in size, sometimes as much as those of modern
into sampling. When the Lomekwi 3 site at West Turkana humans making allowance for body size ([68], cf. [69]).
in Kenya was published it took the record back from 2.6 In a sense, the cooking hypothesis is proved, in that all
to 3.3 Ma [37]—amounting to one sampling of the ‘new’ modern humans need cooked food [66]: the question there-
700 000 years. If hominins had actually made tools (say) fore is whether the hypothesis can be locked into a fixed
10 times a year, then with a population of (say) 10 000, position in the past, a rapid switch of adaptation. This is
current sampling would give a 1 in 70 billion chance of recov- far harder to demonstrate, given our inadequate picture of
ery. If that seems excessively hypothetical, we can come early hominin species variation, and the variety of environ-
forward to the period 2–1 Ma: there are some hundreds of ments which they inhabited. As a working hypothesis,
however, this set of ideas brings to life the problems that [89,90]. At Beeches Pit, mentioned below, a refitting flint arte- 4
early hominins were working against in terms of processing fact set included two burnt specimens in the set of 27, a

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foods, and living alongside large predators. circumstance not readily consistent with natural fire [91,92].
A striking increase in human brain size is also one of the Such examples emphasize the importance of context,
major developments in Homo. It has risen from an average ca and the point that an organized methodology is necessary
600 to 1300 cc in the course of the Pleistocene [70,71]. As a for fire enquiries. In archaeology, a first general treatment
larger brain is costly in energy, it needs explanation. The was provided by Bellomo in the 1990s [93,94]; subsequen-
social brain hypothesis aims to explain the phenomenon in tly, micromorphological studies of sediments, magnetic
terms of increases in group size and pressures towards methods—including magnetic susceptibility and palaeomag-
social cognition [72 –74]. High-quality diets are a necessity netic techniques—and thermoluminescence measurements
of fuelling the larger brain, from early times and especially have all proved highly useful [95,96].
from half a million years ago [68,72,75]. Social brain calcu- No technique on its own completely addresses the pro-

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B 371: 20150164

lations suggest rapid change at this stage, and a link with blems of enquiry. The strength of micromorphology is
language origins [71,76]. obviously its ability to look at the small scale. The scaling up
These hypotheses can be seen as promoting ‘step changes’ in to provide evidence of specific human actions is therefore
hominin evolution—but the genetic comparisons now possible more likely to come from archaeology; but multiple techniques
from whole genome studies indicate a steady progression of are necessary for any full picture. Thermoluminescence and
many complex changes, rather than any Rubicon [77]. magnetic methods can provide estimates of critical factors
such as temperatures and duration of burning [97].

5. Recognizing fire in the record

Fire on landscape is of deep interest, but it is practically 6. Fire origins in the archaeological record
impossible to distinguish between wildfires and similar The two earliest sites are in Kenya: FxJj20 at East Turkana, and
fires that may have been started by humans. Some of our site GnJi 1/6E in the Chemoigut Formation at Chesowanja near
best clues as to how this might be done come from Australia. Lake Baringo (figure 3). These are both open sites. According to
In a modern instance, the Martu people of the western desert the original publications, FxJj20 preserves burned sediments
only gave up their traditional fire stick farming methods in and some heat-altered stone tools [98,99]. The site remains a
the 1960s. The change led to a great rise in the size of individ- strong candidate for early fire use and is currently under
ual fires [78,79]. Through the systematic use of small fires the complete reinvestigation (S. Hlubik 2015, personal communi-
aborigines had habitually managed small mammal commu- cation). Chesowanja preserves somewhat similar information,
nities in a way that appears to enhance resources [80]; other but the burnt material at the centre of the site consists not of
hunter– gatherer studies imply also a concern for enhancing a burnt patch, but of a few large clasts of baked clay
vegetation [54]. [100,101]. The possibility that they could come from an adja-
More generally, archaeological methodology has to focus cent (but lost) natural burning feature is difficult to exclude
on the restricted domains of sites where there has been on present evidence, although the clasts are directly associated
notable human activity—possible home bases. The idea of with numerous stone tools and faunal remains. A site at Gadeb
the home base has been much debated [80 –82], but dense in Ethiopia is also of similar age [102].
concentrations of stone tools as much as 2.5 Ma show that Several sites then range through the period approximately
hominins remained in one place long enough or frequently 1.0–0.5 Ma. They include the very different cave sites of
enough that overnight stays were likely [83,84]—and if fire Swartkrans and Wonderwerk in southern Africa, and the
was in use it was likely to be employed on some of these, open site of Kalambo Falls in Zambia (mentioned above).
although the chances of preservation are very slight. At Swartkrans, in Member 3, described as a roofed gully,
On occasion archaeology is capable of recognizing artefact fragments of burnt bone were found in 17 excavation squares,
evidence of fire beyond all doubt. One case is a preserved arguing against their creation by occasional savanna fires
wooden fire ‘hearth’ from Guitarrero Cave in Peru, directly sweeping up to the site [103–107]. They include several speci-
dated by radiocarbon to around 2000 years BP; cord and mens also showing cutmarks from butchery. At Wonderwerk
dowels from the site date to ca 10 ka [85,86]. The sockets Cave, micromorphology studies in stratum 10, dating to
where the fire drill was inserted are plainly visible. approximately 1 Ma, indicate that quantities of grass and
Another is lumps of pitch preserved from a Neanderthal other vegetation were introduced far into the cave and
site at Königsaue in the foothills of the Harz Mountains in became burnt along with bone preserved as microscopic frag-
Germany [87]. Pitch, probably used as a fixative in hafting, ments [108,109]. The important site of Gesher Benot Ya’aqov
can be made from tree bark only by maintaining high temp- in Israel preserves burnt materials at numerous levels in a
eratures in a controlled fire for several hours. This can be 30 m sequence dating to ca 700 000 years [110–112]. Charcoal
regarded as almost the ideal case of fire documentation, was identified at 10 levels, and burnt wood at 4. Most specifi-
since one piece of pitch retained a human fingerprint, and cally, burnt flint microartefacts were found in clusters which
direct radiocarbon dating gave an age of ca 48 000 BP, on mark out ‘phantom hearth’ areas [110,112]. Macroscopic
the limits of the technique, and compatible with a geological burnt flints and burnt pebbles have also been found, for
age of approximately 80 000 years. The use of gypsum plaster example, 24 in total from the layer I1–6 L-7 [112].
for hafting in the Middle East also implies the use of fire [88]. Zhoukoudian near Beijing in China has been known for
Occasionally, elsewhere, wooden artefacts may be part more than 80 years as a fire site [113,114]. Critiques have
burnt or burnt. At Kalambo Falls in Zambia burnt wooden been made of its context, and on the nature of the ‘burnt’
artefacts were found on Acheulean sites dating to ca 0.5 Ma material [115–118], much of which resulted from other
 5

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Beeches Pit Zhoukoudian
Menez Dregan
Vertesszollos
Terra Amata
Bolomor
Gesher BY
Qesem

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B 371: 20150164

Koobi Fora
Chesowanja

Kalambo Falls

Wonderwerk Swartkrans

Pinnacle Point

Figure 3. Some major Pleistocene sites with traces of fire. Following earliest traces at Koobi Fora and Chesowanja, ca 1.5 Ma, the ovoids indicate the biases in
representation: centre, occurences ca 0.7 – 1.0 Ma; Europe/Mediterranean, 400 000 years onward; southern African: ca 0.5 Ma onwards. In the Far East, Zhoukoudian
(ca 0.7 Ma) is followed by other sites with fire traces.

natural processes. Nonetheless, the site is a record of the activi- originates around the same period, and gives strong indi-
ties of Homo erectus in the period 0.4–0.7 Ma, with more than cations of the beginnings of hafting [133–135] (figure 4). This
100 000 artefacts, and preserving burnt bone [117,119,120]. is also implied at two German sites, notably Schöningen,
The repeated associations argue for controlled fire [120]. where short wooden staves are preserved with deep notches
From around 400 000 years ago, traces of fire become in the ends [136]. Effective hafted systems require glue or
much more numerous on many sites, including numbers in twine—it may be highly significant that two of the main
Europe and the Middle East as well as Africa and Asia glues require heat treatment for their production [87,88].
[80,121,122]. Qesem in Israel preserves a large hearth main- The question of ignition is an important one [127,137], but
tained over a period [123,124]; fire traces also appear perhaps less crucial to effective fire use than often assumed. If
regularly at nearby Tabun Cave at about the same time hominins could not ignite fire, however, they would need to be
[125]. In northwest Europe, Beeches Pit, a 400 000 year old able to maintain it robustly, and hence probably be reliant on a
interglacial site in eastern England, has various traces of strong social network allowing its replacement [138]. They
fire, suggesting that large hearths were maintained by the would need good knowledge of slow-burning materials,
side of a creek. The traces include burnt bone, shells, combus- although field studies show that animal dung is useful in this
tion features, and most particularly the evidence of a refitting respect. Ignition is often assumed to have required a cognitive
set of flint artefacts [91,92,122]. Of 27 flakes discarded in the advance. Yet the simplest kindling technique of rubbing a stick
process of shaping an intended handaxe, only two became in a groove in a wooden ‘hearth’ requires no more than power
heated and reddened, indicating highly localized burning. and basic skill. It does not seem a more complex process than
Despite the increasing numbers of fire sites, their relative hafting, which it closely resembles in that two component
scarcity is still notable [126], as is the fact that some very major parts require understanding and use of an intermediary:
sites in Europe are totally lacking in fire evidence. These include fixative in the one, and tinder in the other (figure 5).
lower levels at the Caune d’Arago at Tautavel in southern By 120 000 years ago, pierced shell beads [141] indicate a
France, where among more than half a million finds of flints knowledge of twine or leather cord, which would have been
and bone there are no burnt traces older than 400 000 years necessary for operating a fire drill. Before this date at Pinnacle
[121]. At a later date, too, there are significant gaps in the fire Point in South Africa, stone was being warmed to improve its
representation in Mousterian sites [127]. By contrast, at approxi- working qualities [142]. Such finds are a further early indi-
mately 300 000 years ago, Vertesszollos in Hungary, Terra cation of the use of fire in technological processes: with its
Amata and Menez Dregan in France and Bolomor in Spain need for fuelling and maintenance domestic fire becomes
show frequent evidence of fire [121,128–131], continued in a firm stimulus towards division of labour, planning and
Spain on later Neanderthal sites such as Abric Romani [132]. focusing of attention [17].
It has been argued a number of times that fire management From this point, fire use can be seen as almost universal,
may have improved markedly around 400 000 years ago as it is among living modern humans (e.g. [143–145]).
[81,121–123,126]. The Levallois technique of stone working Even so, there are puzzles in the record, where fire is
 6

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Levallois point
bark pitch

cordage tinder

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B 371: 20150164

gypsum
plaster

Figure 4. Hafting of a Levallois point: the implicit connections with fire. Hafting of Levallois may occur as early as 500 000 years ago [133 – 135]. Two glues in use
by 50 – 100 ka require fire for preparation; twine, implied to be in use by 120 ka [123] is a requisite for working a fire drill. Hafting and the use of a fire drill involve
a similar conceptual mastery of bringing together two components via a vital intermediary—fixative in the one and kindling in the other.

factor of 2 or 3 to 1 [146]. In general, however, longstanding

natural fire regimes have been interrupted and superseded.
106
Recent syntheses make plain the importance of knowing
tons Pb/yr produced in world

105
silver when that becomes true in terms of landscape, and it is evident
production
in Germany that geographical, ecological, archaeological and anthropolo-
104 gical studies can come together far more effectively (e.g.
Spanish
exhaustion production [147]). The issues are complex for three main reasons which
103 of Roman of silver in
lead mines New World have to be meshed with the studies of natural fire regimes
102
use of [10,12,15,149–171]. First, the dispersal of modern humans is
Pb/Sc ratio

discovery of coinage 3
cupellation marked by different arrival times in different regions—of the
10 2 order of 50– 60 ka for Australia and 40 ka for Europe
1 [172,173], and 10– 20 ka for the Americas [174], far later
1
3000 2000 1000 0 1000 again for New Zealand and the Pacific [175]. Second, the arri-
calendar years cal AD/BC vals and recolonizations sometimes cut across the immense
climate changes involved in the transition from the last glacial
Figure 5. Full impact of fire use may come only when agricultural economies
maximum to the Holocene. A third key factor is that hunting
are followed by industrial ones. Here evidence of two records of metal exploita-
and gathering economies began to be replaced by agricultural
tion demonstrates effects through the last 5000 years. The lead aerosol record of
and pastoralist economies from about 10 000 years ago [176].
Arctic ice cores gives a dated index to production of lead and silver through the
Until then, populations were relatively low, of the order
last 5000 years [139], and as such may provide an effective guide to the relative
of 1 person km – 2, but farming raised population densities
scales of burning of wood in industrial processes through that period, long
by at least 10 or 100 times: the significance of this is that
before the atmospheric effects of fossil fuel burning are seen. Through the
most major human impacts are likely to be relatively recent,
same period, lead/scandium ratios from a peat bog in the Basque country
occupying less than 0.5% of the Pleistocene.
give indications of the local peak mining period which are sometimes also
Modern hunter–gatherers do however demonstrate that
marked by signs of deforestation [140].
people in small numbers can have significant effects [78,79].
Humanly influenced regimes are found across the world of
seemingly inexplicably absent (as in some parts of the record hunter–gatherers [54,78,79,177–181], but to varied and
in Middle Palaeolithic France [127]), and it remains debated extents. Principal questions are how far back they go
possible—balanced against the vicissitudes of sampling and in time, and how great their influence was. For Africa,
preservation—that the costs and risks of using it sometimes Archibald et al. [54] have argued for a potentially greater influ-
outweighed the benefits. ence through the last approximately 100 000 years, as early
modern human populations increased. The main archaeologi-
cal evidence comes from the shaping of the African Middle
Stone Age (MSA), including greater transport distances for
7. The impact of fire artefacts, and the eventual dispersal out of Africa [182,183].
Over a long period, human interventions have grown to the The other signs of complex fire management, mentioned
point that in the modern world fires started by humans above [87,88,142] also suggest the possibility that the landscape
usually vastly outnumber those started by nature. Even so, scale interventions may extend back to 100–200 000 years ago,
in areas such as the Great Basin of the southwest USA, light- if not further. A rare study based on elemental carbon in a deep
ning-started fires still outnumber anthropogenic fires by a sea core indicates an increase in fire at about 400 000 years
ago [184], but in the view of its specific association with inter-
glacial to glacial transitions, there may be no anthropogenic
8. Conclusion 7

The deep importance of fire, and the longstanding nature of

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implications.
As has been seen, in many parts of the world first inter- human interactions with it in the past, are both beyond
ventions by colonizing modern humans would occur only doubt. The vanishing act of early fire ensures that it remains
at more recent dates. Accordingly, local fire histories may difficult to investigate, so that widely varying views remain
have far greater validity than global ones, and the time differ- both about its first take-up and subsequent use, but recen-
ences in human occupation give scope to compare records, tly a changed perception has emerged. First, there is an
especially across the southern continents. increasing recognition of a need to move beyond simple
Within the last 20 000 years, there came major new fire ‘presence/absence’ judgements about archaeological hearths
interactions, the first associated with pottery, which appears as an index for the ‘when’ of human fire use. Regular
to have originated in China [185,186]. From around 10 000 human –fire interactions could long precede fixed hearths in

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B 371: 20150164

years ago, agriculture would potentially have widespread settlements. Second, an understanding is emerging that fire
effects. Fixed Neolithic settlements, such as Çatalhöyök, use is not a single technology or process, but that several
would have required wide-ranging foraging for firewood scales of use, and probably several intensifying technologies,
[187], but there are indications in the Levant that woodland evolved over a long period, intertwined, and sometimes
was sometimes managed [188]. Soon afterwards, from roughly eventually became bound together.
5000 years ago come the beginnings of metalworking, first In total, we know a good deal, if much remains to be found
copper and bronze, and then iron. Such interventions involve out of the ‘why and when?’. We know that our nearest relatives,
the raising of temperatures far above those of open fires—the the chimpanzees, are not intimidated by fire, but behave sensi-
development of a true pyrotechnology [189]. Lead aerosols bly in relation to it; that humans were exposed to fire frequently
from arctic ice cores provide an index of lead and silver pro- from the time that they moved into open savanna environments
duction through the last 5000 years [139], and can perhaps more than 2 Ma; from isotopic evidence and changes in teeth,
also be used as a rough proxy for the scale of burning across that their diet altered considerably around this time. We
the Northern Hemisphere through the last 5000 years. They know that burning evidence occurs on numbers of archaeologi-
are consonant with local records of mining evidence, e.g. cal sites from about 1.5 Ma onwards (there is evidence of actual
from the Basque country [140], where there are signs of peri- hearths from around 0.7 to 0.4 Ma); that more elaborate technol-
odic deforestation. The main impact came from the time of ogies existed from around half a million years ago, and that
the Roman Empire onwards (figure 5). these came to employ adhesives that require preparation by
It remains to consider the impact of fire on human biology fire. We know that both early modern humans and Nean-
and sociality. The change in the genus Homo over 2 Myr has derthals had sophisticated fire technologies, at least some of
been remarkable. There are signs that a considerable part of the time. Despite the huge biases of disappearance and preser-
this can be put down to the influence of fire. Particularly strik- vation, a new phase of early fire research is emerging in which
ing is that modern adult humans have an exceptionally long interdisciplinary approaches offer the chance of addressing
waking day, of 16 h or more, compared with 8 h in many questions with increased success. In the grand sweep of
mammal species [190,191]. Whereas other primates such as human evolution, ‘intensification’ is a dominant theme in the
chimpanzees and gorillas rise with the dawn and go to sleep practices and culture of Homo: fire use is entirely in step with
around sundown [192], humans have peak alertness in the other lines of evidence.
early evening [13,193,194]. The several additional hours of
wakefulness appear to have been made possible by fire and
its ‘daylight extension’. The reasons appear to have been
for social time (hence a probable link with language: 9. Meeting discussion
[49,71,72,138,195]), as well as protection against predators. N. Roberts (University of Edinburgh). What information is
Changes in the size and proportion of stomach, small intestine available regarding the size of the groups that would congre-
and large intestine may be part of the same complex—owed to gate around and use fires across archaeological times and in
changed diet, necessary for sustained movement on the different regions of the world? Is there a latitude dependence
ground, and following the expensive tissue hypothesis a perhaps relating to the need to provide warmth?
possible co-requisite of the large human brain [75]. J. Gowlett. It is an important question, but up to 400 000
It is probably not an exaggeration to say that there was years ago any information we have relates to site size and
also a re-organization of human sociality focused on fire group size, rather than how many congregated around a
and the hearth. Earlier mention was made of the needs for hearth. From around 400 000–300 000 years ago when num-
division of labour. Costs of fire can be high, too: the longer bers of structured hearths can be seen, they appear to
a settlement is inhabited, often the greater the distances cov- include both large and small in different contexts. Size may
ered in fuel-foraging. Such aspects can probably be related to depend on immediate purpose and available fuel more than
the emergence of larger group sizes, these also entailing the climate. Social factors are also likely to determine whether
active support of a post-mature generation—grandfathers fires are communal, or specific to nuclear families. We have
and grandmothers [196,197]—and of children [20]. Late Pleistocene sites such as Meer in Belgium where there
From all this, it is clear that fire has had both direct and are numbers of hearths of different sizes in a small settlement.
indirect impacts. Apart from its effects on the environment C. Roos (Southern Methodist University, USA). I appreci-
and human sociality, its influence has reached in some way ate your recommendation that we look to non-human animal
into the human psyche, expressed in religion, in ritual, analogies for how our hominin ancestors may have seen fire
in ceremony [198] and through ubiquitous myths about fire as an opportunity. Do you think that opportunistic fire-
origins [149,199]. margin hunting or scavenging might account for the evidence
for increased meat consumption around the time of early Competing interests. I declare I have no competing interests. 8
encephalization (instead of the cooking hypothesis)? Funding. Research for this study was partly supported via the British

rstb.royalsocietypublishing.org
J. Gowlett. The analogy with other animals might suggest Academy Partnership and Mobility Scheme, award number PM120165.
that in the first instance early hominins would go to fires Acknowledgements. The author thanks Andrew Scott, Claire Belcher, Bill
Chaloner and Chris Roos for the invitation to the Royal Society meeting,
simply to take advantage of any additional opportunities of
and two referees for helpful comments; Robin Dunbar and Clive
gaining prey, regardless of whether the resources were Gamble and other colleagues within the British Academy Centenary
cooked. For example, fire may reveal a clutch of eggs—so project; also Henry de Lumley, Richard Wrangham and Naama
much the better if it has baked them. For encephalization, Goren-Inbar. He is grateful for support from the British Academy for
new cranial finds are altering the figures rapidly, but at the the excavations at Beeches Pit, also to AHRC and Forest Enterprise for
moment it would seem that the average cranial capacity for additional support in the Beeches Pit project, and to Jane Hallos, Richard
Preece, David Bridgland, Simon Lewis and Simon Parfitt; and at Cheso-
early Homo at 1.8 Ma is 600 –650 cc, 40 –50% greater than wanja, especially to J. W. K. Harris, Stephen Rucina, Andy Herries and
for most apes and australopithecines—and yet this is earlier Sally Hoare, National Museums of Kenya and the British Academy

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B 371: 20150164

than Richard Wrangham’s postulated date of 1.7 Ma for Mobility and Links project; at Florisbad to James Brink, Adam Caris
applying the cooking hypothesis. Perhaps the fire foraging and South African National Museums. He appreciated the chance to
is one important element, and the cooking hypothesis attend a Wenner-Gren symposium on early fire closely following the
Royal Society meeting, and extends thanks to Francesco Berna, Dennis
comes into play more strongly later, but other factors operate Sandgathe, Leslie Aiello and all colleagues present there.
alongside both.

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