Cited by 687Pleistocene-Era Hominins and ArchaeologyArchaeology and ancient environmental studiesArchaeological and Geological Studies

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On the earliest evidence for habitual use of fire in Europe

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Roebroeks, Wil, Villa, Paola·2011·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

DOI 10.1073/pnas.1018116108PMC PMC3069174

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Abstract

The timing of the human control of fire is a hotly debated issue, with claims for regular fire use by early hominins in Africa at ∼1.6 million y ago. These claims are not uncontested, but most archaeologists would agree that the colonization of areas outside Africa, especially of regions such as Europe where temperatures at time dropped below freezing, was indeed tied to the use of fire. Our review of the European evidence suggests that early hominins moved into northern latitudes without the habitual use of fire. It was only much later, from ∼300,000 to 400,000 y ago onward, that fire became a significant part of the hominin technological repertoire. It is also from the second half of the Middle Pleistocene onward that we can observe spectacular cases of Neandertal pyrotechnological knowledge in the production of hafting materials. The increase in the number of sites with good evidence of fire throughout the Late Pleistocene shows that European Neandertals had fire management not unlike that documented for Upper Paleolithic groups.

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Microdestructive analysis with Py-GC/MS for the identification of birch tar: a case study from the Huayang site in late Neolithic China
Lyu, N., Li, Y., Yang, S.-X., Yue, J., Tian, F., Rao, H.-Y., Han, B., & Yang, Y. (2023) · The European Physical Journal Plus · doi:10.1140/epjp/s13360-023-04213-9 · Cited by 9
Exploring the formation processes on open-air palaeolithic sites: A late Middle Pleistocene Acheulean assemblage at Arbo site (Miño River basin, Spain)
Méndez-Quintas, E., Santonja, M., Pérez-González, A., Díaz-Rodríguez, M., & Domínguez, A. S. (2022) · Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports · doi:10.1016/j.jasrep.2022.103453 · Cited by 9
Investigating variability in the frequency of fire use in the archaeological record of Late Pleistocene Europe
Abdolahzadeh, A., McPherron, S. P., Sandgathe, D., Schurr, T. G., Olszewski, D. I., & Dibble, H. L. (2022) · Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences · doi:10.1007/s12520-022-01526-1 · Cited by 9
What Are the “Costs and Benefits” of Meat-Eating in Human Evolution? The Challenging Contribution of Behavioral Ecology to Archeology
Daujeard, C., & Prat, S. (2022) · Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution · doi:10.3389/fevo.2022.834638 · Cited by 9
The cost of cooking for foragers.
Magargal, K. (2021) · Journal of Human Evolution · doi:10.1016/j.jhevol.2021.103091 · Cited by 9
The impact of burning on the structure and mineral composition of bat guano
Lundberg, J., & Mcfarlane, D. (2021) · International Journal of Speleology · doi:10.5038/1827-806x.50.2.2387 · Cited by 9
“Moreover, Cioclovina Cave is located in central Europe where hominids have been making fires in caves for 500 millennia (Roebroeks, 2006; Roebroeks & Villa, 2011).”
Background
Identifying a Pre-Columbian Anthropocene in California
Klimaszewski‐Patterson, A., Morgan, C. T., & Mensing, S. (2021) · Annals of the American Association of Geographers · doi:10.1080/24694452.2020.1846488 · Cited by 13
The historical use of fire as a land management tool in New Zealand and the challenges for its continued use
Baillie, B. R., & Bayne, K. (2019) · Landscape Ecology · doi:10.1007/s10980-019-00906-8 · Cited by 17
Evolution of the Human Brain: the key roles of DHA (omega-3 fatty acid) and Δ6-desaturase gene
Majou, D. (2018) · OCL · doi:10.1051/ocl/2017059 · Cited by 14
“This occurred between 3 00 000 and 4 00 000 years ago (Roebroeks and Villa, 2011), at the time of Neanderthal man.”
Ostracod-based palaeotemperature reconstructions for MIS 11 human occupation at Beeches Pit, West Stow, Suffolk, UK
Benardout, G. (2015) · doi:10.1016/j.jas.2014.07.027 · Cited by 9
The environment and chronology of the earliest occupation of north-west Europe: Current knowledge, problems and new research directions
MacDonald, K., & Roebroeks, W. (2012) · Quaternary International · doi:10.1016/j.quaint.2012.05.008 · Cited by 9
“However, a recent review suggests that early hominins may have moved into middle latitudes without the habitual use of fire (Roebroeks and Villa, 2011).”
BackgroundSelf-citation
The Darwinian Tradition in Context
Delisle, R. G. (2017) · Cambridge International Law Journal · doi:10.1007/978-3-319-69123-7 · Cited by 9
“Technological and cultural developments had enabled populations to overcome a wide range of climatic and ecological barriers (Roebroeks and Villa 2011; Boivin et al. 2013; Glantz et al. 2016).”
Background
Birch bark tar ornaments: identification of 2000-year-old beads and bracelets in southwest China
Ren, M., Yang, Y., Rao, H.-Y., Gu, A., Lei, Y., & Yang, Y. (2023) · Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences · doi:10.1007/s12520-023-01886-2 · Cited by 8
“It was widely used for hafting tools (e.g., Regert et al. 1998; Koller et al. 2001; Roebroeks and Villa 2011), repairing pottery vessels (e.g., Charters et al. 1993; Urem-Kotsou et al. 2002; Rageot et al. 2016; Binder et al. 1990; Connan et al. 2002), waterproofing or coating pottery (e.g., Regert…”
Method
Adhesive Strength and Rupture Behaviour of Birch Tars Made with Different Stone Age Methods
Koch, T. J., & Schmidt, P. (2023) · Journal of Paleolithic Archaeology · doi:10.1007/s41982-023-00135-1 · Cited by 8
“Neanderthals used fire from 400 to 300 ka onwards (Roebroeks and Villa, 2011).”
Variations by degrees: Western European paleoenvironmental fluctuations across MIS 13–11
Hosfield, R. (2022) · Journal of Human Evolution · doi:10.1016/j.jhevol.2022.103213 · Cited by 8
Investigating foundations for hominin fire exploitation: Savanna-dwelling chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes verus) in fire-altered landscapes
Herzog, N. M., Pruetz, J. D., & Hawkes, K. (2022) · Journal of Human Evolution · doi:10.1016/j.jhevol.2022.103193 · Cited by 12
The metapodial hammers from the Lower Palaeolithic site of Schöningen 13 II-4 (Germany): The results of experimental research
Bonhof, W. J., & van Kolfschoten, T. (2020) · Journal of Archaeological Science Reports · doi:10.1016/j.jasrep.2020.102685 · Cited by 10
Fuel uses in Cabeço da Amoreira shellmidden: An insight from charcoal analyses
Monteiro, P., Zapata, L., & Bicho, N. (2017) · doi:10.1016/j.quaint.2016.01.014 · Cited by 8
The Expert Performance Model of Neandertal Cognition
Wynn, T., & Coolidge, F. L. (2019) · Replacement of neanderthals by modern humans series · doi:10.1007/978-981-13-8980-1_3 · Cited by 10
Why did the human brain size evolve? A way forward
González-Forero, M., & Gómez‐Robles, A. (2025) · Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences · doi:10.1098/rstb.2024.0114 · Cited by 9
“Thus, in the model, fertility is proportional to the count of pre‑ovulatory ovarian follicles measured in mass units, which is consistent with clinical practice [60,61].”
Early human collective practices and symbolism in the Early Upper Paleolithic of Southwest Asia
Barzilai, O., Marder, O., Tejero, J.-M., Ayalon, A., Bar‐Matthews, M., Abulafia, T., Lavi, R., Goder‐Goldberger, M., Shemer, M., Edeltin, L., et al. (2024) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.2404632121 · Cited by 7
“It has been shown that proper ventilation of the living area is mandatory for cave habitation ( 103 , 104 ).”
There’s no smoke without fire: A deep time perspective on the effects of fires on air quality, human health and habitability in the Palaeolithic and prehistory
Hoare, S., Preysler, J. B., Kabukcu, C., Kamper, T. E., Sinclair, A., & Navas, C. (2023) · Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports · doi:10.1016/j.jasrep.2023.104261 · Cited by 7
“…control of fire represents a major milestone in our evo - lution , providing many benefits such as light and heat as well as smoke to preserve food and repel insects ( Bentsen , 2014 ; Brown et al ., 2009 ; Gowlett , 2006 ; Hoare , 2019 ; Roebroeks and Villa , 2011 ; Wrangham and Carmody , 2010 ).”
Background
Organic geochemical evidence of human-controlled fires at Acheulean site of Valdocarros II (Spain, 245 kya)
Stancampiano, L. M., Rubio-Jara, S., Panera, J., Uribelarrea, D., Pérez-González, A., & Magill, C. (2023) · Scientific Reports · doi:10.1038/s41598-023-32673-7 · Cited by 7
Light Production by Ceramic Using Hunter-Gatherer-Fishers of the Circum-Baltic
Robson, H. K., Lucquin, A., Admiraal, M., Dolbunova, E., Adamczak, K., Czekaj-Zastawny, A., Fitzhugh, W., Gumiński, W., Kabaciński, J., Kotula, A., et al. (2022) · Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society · doi:10.1017/ppr.2022.12 · Cited by 7
Paleoanthropology of cognition: an overview on Hominins brain evolution
Hublin, J., & Changeux, J. (2022) · Comptes Rendus Biologies · doi:10.5802/crbiol.92 · Cited by 19
“Although pre-existing, the use of ﬁre by Hominins become gradually more common [55] and is well documented in the archaeological record after 400,000 BP. Gathering around a common ﬁre may have enhanced oral communication and its diversiﬁcation within members of the social groups.”
Background
Changes in Raw Material Selection and Use at 400,000 Years bp : A Novel, Symbolic Relationship between Humans and Their World. Discussing Technological, Social and Cognitive Arguments
Romagnoli, F. (2021) · Cambridge Archaeological Journal · doi:10.1017/s0959774320000384 · Cited by 13
“The control and regular use of fire in Europe were first attested at this time (Roebroeks & Villa 2011).”
Background
Density measurements as a non-destructive approach to investigate the heat treatment of siliceous lithic artefacts
Santaniello, F., Berloffa, A., Grimaldi, S., Maffei, S., Pedrotti, A., & Gialanella, S. (2020) · doi:10.1016/j.culher.2020.10.004 · Cited by 7
Experimental Heating of Moravian Cherts and its Implication for Palaeolithic Chipped Stone Assemblages
Moník, M., Nerudová, Z., & Schnabl, P. (2017) · doi:10.1111/arcm.12356 · Cited by 7
Questioning the Anthropocene and Its Silences: Socioenvironmental History and the Climate Crisis
Bauer, A. (2017) · Resilience A Journal of the Environmental Humanities · doi:10.5250/resilience.3.2016.0403 · Cited by 7
From the narrow to the broad. Multiple perspectives on language evolution
Wacewicz, S., & Żywiczyński, P. (2015) · Theoria et Historia Scientiarum · doi:10.12775/ths-2014-001 · Cited by 7
“In 2014, the genetic and fossil evidence is much richer, including well established evidence of fire domestication from at least 700 kya (e.g. Roebroeks and Villa 2011), contra Lewontin’s (1998: 124) estimate of 100 kya, and comparative evidence is unimaginably more complete than the 1998 state of…”
From Foraging to Agriculture
Grivetti, L. (2014) · Elsevier eBooks · doi:10.1016/b978-0-444-52512-3.00232-1 · Cited by 7
Correlates of Vocal Tract Evolution in Late Pliocene and Pleistocene Hominins
Ekström, A. G., Gärdenfors, P., Snyder, W. D., Friedrichs, D., McCarthy, R. C., Tsapos, M., Tennie, C., Strait, D. S., Edlund, J., & Moran, S. (2025) · Human Nature · doi:10.1007/s12110-025-09487-9 · Cited by 6
“…various archeological sites across Europe and the Middle East date from ~ 250 kya (Brace, 1999; James et al., 1989), 400 kya (Barkai et al., 2017; Roebroeks & Villa, 2011; Shimelmitz et al., 2014), and 780 kya (Goldberg et al., 2023; Walker et al., 2020; Zohar et al., 2022), whereas estimates…”
Influential
Biomarker evidence on Early Paleolithic human-environment interactions from loess records in Tajikistan, Central Asia
Chirakkal, A., Steindal, C. C., Birk, J. J., Újvári, G., & Wright, D. (2025) · Palaeogeography Palaeoclimatology Palaeoecology · doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2025.112786 · Cited by 6
Conservation biology and conservation paleobiology meet the Anthropocene together: history matters
Walker, S. E. (2023) · Frontiers in Earth Science · doi:10.3389/feart.2023.1166243 · Cited by 7
Fire as high-elevation cold adaptation: An evaluation of fuels and Terminal Pleistocene combustion in the Central Andes
Meinekat, S. A., Milton, E. B. P., Furlotte, B., Zarrillo, S., & Rademaker, K. (2023) · Quaternary Science Reviews · doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2023.108244 · Cited by 5
An experimental study of wet-cooking in organic vessels: implications for understanding the evolution of cooking technologies
Langley, A., Needham, A., Kröger, R., Cifuentes-Alcobendas, G., Adegeest, M., Cousen, J., Lance, C., Benton, H., Mansbridge, A.-R., Satchell, A., et al. (2023) · Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences · doi:10.1007/s12520-023-01843-z · Cited by 6
“However, it is not until the transition from Lower to Middle Palaeolithic that evidence of fire control becomes a recurring feature of archaeological sites (Preece et al. 2006; Mallol et al. 2013; Roebroeks and Villa 2011).”
Background
Impact of a recent wildfire on tortoises at Cape Point, South Africa, and implications for the interpretation of heated bones in the archaeological record
Stahlschmidt, M., Mentzer, S., Heinrich, S., Cooper, A., Grote, M. N., McNeill, P. J., Wilder, J. C., & Steele, T. (2023) · Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences · doi:10.1007/s12520-023-01806-4 · Cited by 6
“Hearth features present the best evidence for controlled use of fire (Roebroeks and Villa 2011), but these features rarely preserve, especially in open-air contexts (Mallol et al.”
Background
Anthropogenic fire fingerprints in Late Pleistocene and Holocene sediments of Sodmein Cave, Egypt
Wöstehoff, L., Kindermann, K., Amelung, W., Kappenberg, A., Henselowsky, F., & Lehndorff, E. (2022) · Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports · doi:10.1016/j.jasrep.2022.103411 · Cited by 6
Late Acheulian multiplicity in manufactured stone culture at the end of the Middle Pleistocene in Western Europe
Barsky, D., Carbonell, E., Sala, R., de Castro, J. M. B., & García-Vadillo, F.-J. (2021) · Quaternary International · doi:10.1016/j.quaint.2021.04.017 · Cited by 7
Evolution of Hominin Detoxification: Neanderthal and Modern Human Ah Receptor Respond Similarly to TCDD
Aarts, J. M. M. J. G., Alink, G. M., Franssen, H., & Roebroeks, W. (2020) · Molecular Biology and Evolution · doi:10.1093/molbev/msaa287 · Cited by 10
“Based on archaeological data, others see consistent fire use as a significantly later phenomenon, from around 350,000 years ago onward (Roebroeks and Villa 2011; Shimelmitz et al. 2014), whereas regular fire production has even been inferred to be a modern human accomplishment only (Sandgathe et al.”
BackgroundSelf-citation
The multi-disciplinary study of Early Copper Age lamps from Zgornje Radvanje (NE Slovenia)
Kramberger, B., Ogrinc, N., Potočnik, D., & Grdadolnik, J. (2020) · Quaternary International · doi:10.1016/j.quaint.2020.09.027 · Cited by 6
How comparative psychology can shed light on human evolution: Response to Beran et al.’s discussion of “Cognitive capacities for cooking in chimpanzees”
Rosati, A. G., & Warneken, F. (2016) · Learning & Behavior · doi:10.3758/s13420-016-0220-7 · Cited by 3
Biosphere-human feedbacks: a physical geography perspective
Malanson, G. (2014) · Physical Geography · doi:10.1080/02723646.2013.864906 · Cited by 6
“People have used fire for as many as 1 million or at least 400,000 years (Berna et al., 2012; Roebroeks & Villa, 2011).”
Background
Evolution of Tool Use
Bracken, E., Billings, B. K., Barnes, M. J., & Spocter, M. A. (2020) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_2948-1 · Cited by 1
Revisiting hominin scavenging through the lens of optimal foraging theory
Mateos, A., Moleón, M., Palmqvist, P., Rosell, J., Sebastián‐González, E., Margalida, A., Sánchez‐Zapata, J. A., Arilla, M., & Rodríguez, J. (2025) · Journal of Human Evolution · doi:10.1016/j.jhevol.2025.103762 · Cited by 5
Late Mid-Pleistocene hominin fire control inferred from sooty speleothem analysis
Vandevelde, S., Pons-Branchu, E., Deldicque, D., Niane, A., Mathias, C., Savard, D., Perrette, Y., Desachy, B., Slimak, L., & Bouchard, K. (2025) · Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory · doi:10.1007/s10816-025-09709-5 · Cited by 5
“Additionally, early hearths were not well structured and typically consisted of simple lenses or depressions, comprising burnt material associated with fragmented charcoals on a reddened ground (Roebroeks & Villa, 2011).”
Influential
Stages and causes of the evolution of language and consciousness: A theoretical reconstruction
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Unraveling the Effect of Fire Seasonality on Fire-Preferred Fuel Types and Dynamics in Alto Minho, Portugal (2000–2018)
de Oliveira, E. R. S., Fernandes, P. M., Barros, D., & Guiomar, N. (2023) · Fire · doi:10.3390/fire6070267 · Cited by 5
The end of the Acheulo-Yabrudian and the Lower Paleolithic in the Levant: a view from the “transitional” Unit X of Tabun Cave, Israel
Shimelmitz, R., Kuhn, S. L., Bisson, M. S., & Weinstein‐Evron, M. (2021) · Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences · doi:10.1007/s12520-021-01304-5 · Cited by 8
The co-evolution of life and organics on earth: Expansions of energy harnessing
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“The use of fire is a defining feature of humans with reliable records of fire use by hominins dated at 1 million years (Myr) ago (Berna et al., 2012; Bowman et al., 2013).”
BackgroundInfluential
The Technosphere and Its Physical Stratigraphic Record
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Authors: Roebroeks, W., & Villa, P.
Affiliations: Leiden University (NL)
University of the Witwatersrand (ZA)
ORCID: Roebroeks, Wil
Villa, Paola
Venue: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Publisher: National Academy of Sciences
Published: 2011-03-14
Volume: 108
Issue: 13
Pages: 5209-5214
ISSN: 0027-8424 (ISSN-L)
1091-6490
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1018116108
PMC: PMC3069174
OpenAlex: W2165291892
Cited by: 687
References: 80
Citations by year: 2026: 19 · 2025: 34 · 2024: 26 · 2023: 41 · 2022: 62 · 2021: 56 · 2020: 67 · 2019: 49 · 2018: 76 · 2017: 52 · 2016: 59 · 2015: 40 · 2014: 28 · 2013: 31 · 2012: 24
FWCI: 144.72
Type: journal article
Language: en
Open access: green
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
Locations: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (publishedVersion)
Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion)
PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
PubMed (publishedVersion)
Topics: Social Sciences › Anthropology › Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology
Social Sciences › Archeology › Archaeology and ancient environmental studies
Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Archeology (arts and humanities) › Archaeological and Geological Studies
Keywords: fire use, Neanderthals, Middle Pleistocene, Late Pleistocene, fire management, hafting, Upper Palaeolithic, northern latitudes, European prehistory
MeSH terms: Animals, Emigration and Immigration, Europe, Biological Evolution, Fires, Fossils, Humans, Technology, Hominidae

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On the earliest evidence for habitual use of fire in Europe

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