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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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Metadata

Authors
Roebroeks, W., & Villa, P.
Affiliations
  • Leiden University (NL)
  • University of the Witwatersrand (ZA)
ORCID
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
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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