Microstratigraphic evidence of in situ fire in the Acheulean strata of Wonderwerk Cave, Northern Cape province, South Africa
Open accessAbstract
The ability to control fire was a crucial turning point in human evolution, but the question when hominins first developed this ability still remains. Here we show that micromorphological and Fourier transform infrared microspectroscopy (mFTIR) analyses of intact sediments at the site of Wonderwerk Cave, Northern Cape province, South Africa, provide unambiguous evidence—in the form of burned bone and ashed plant remains—that burning took place in the cave during the early Acheulean occupation, approximately 1.0 Ma. To the best of our knowledge, this is the earliest secure evidence for burning in an archaeological context.
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Humans have had the ability to control fire for 1 to 2 million years.
“Humans have had the ability to control fire for 1 to 2 million years (Berna et al., 2012)”
From Stories in Action. (2022) · cites this paper as Berna et al., 2012
The paper’s opening section reports secure evidence of burning in an archaeological context at Wonderwerk Cave approximately 1.0 million years ago. It also says there is no consensus on when hominins first controlled fire and describes evidence associated with Homo erectus around 1.9 million years ago as scant and inconclusive. The claim therefore overstates what the paper establishes, particularly at the older end of the range. (LLM, conf=0.88)
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Cites
On the earliest evidence for habitual use of fire in Europe
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“Box indicates approximate location of thin section (B), exhibiting three microstratigraphic units (microfacies): (1) bottom sandy silt and clay mixed with ashed plant material, dispersed wood ash, and bone fragments; (2) clay aggregates and fragments; and (3) rounded aggregates of sandy silt.”
BackgroundInfluentialFire and its roles in early hominid lifeways
Clark, J. D., & Harris, J. W. K. (1985) · The African Archaeological Review · doi:10.1007/bf01117453 · Cited by 205 · see citing works
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Research works printed but not linked: 6
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Bioenergy and biofuels: History, status, and perspective
Guo, M., Song, W., & Buhain, J. (2015) · Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews · doi:10.1016/j.rser.2014.10.013 · Cited by 931 · see citing works
Global biomass burning: a synthesis and review of Holocene paleofire records and their controls
Marlon, J. R., Bartlein, P. J., Daniau, A.-L., Harrison, S. P., Maezumi, S. Y., Power, M. J., Tinner, W., & Vanniére, B. (2013) · Quaternary Science Reviews · doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2012.11.029 · Cited by 438 · see citing works
Protein sequences bound to mineral surfaces persist into deep time
Demarchi, B., Hall, S., Roncal-Herrero, T., Freeman, C. L., Woolley, J., Crisp, M. K., Wilson, J., Fotakis, A., Fischer, R., Kessler, B. M., et al. (2016) · eLife · doi:10.7554/elife.17092 · Cited by 279 · see citing works
Self-citationPyrogeography, historical ecology, and the human dimensions of fire regimes
Roos, C. I., Bowman, D. M. J. S., Balch, J. K., Artaxo, P., Bond, W. J., Cochrane, M., D'Antonio, C. M., DeFries, R., Mack, M., Johnston, F. H., et al. (2014) · Journal of Biogeography · doi:10.1111/jbi.12285 · Cited by 66 · see citing works
The enduring puzzle of the human chin
Pampush, J. D., & Daegling, D. J. (2016) · Evolutionary Anthropology: Issues, News, and Reviews · doi:10.1002/evan.21471 · Cited by 40 · see citing works
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“Humans have had the ability to control fire for 1 to 2 million years (Berna et al., 2012), whereas the capacity for language is estimated to be only about 100,000 years old (Berwick et al., 2013).”
BackgroundThe curiously long absence of cooking in evolutionary thought
Wrangham, R. (2016) · Learning & Behavior · doi:10.3758/s13420-016-0223-4 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
- Authors
- Berna, F., Goldberg, P., Horwitz, L. K., Brink, J., Holt, S., Bamford, M., & Chazan, M.
- Affiliations
- Boston University (US)
- Hebrew University of Jerusalem (IL)
- University of the Free State (ZA)
- National Museum (ZA)
- University of the Witwatersrand (ZA)
- University of Toronto (CA)
- Venue
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
- Publisher
- National Academy of Sciences
- Published
- 2012-04-02
- Volume
- 109
- Issue
- 20
- Pages
- E1215-20
- ISSN
- 0027-8424 (ISSN-L)
- 1091-6490
- PMC
- PMC3356665
- OpenAlex
- W2133662818
- Cited by
- 616
- References
- 2
- Citations by year
- 2026: 18 · 2025: 28 · 2024: 36 · 2023: 44 · 2022: 61 · 2021: 41 · 2020: 41 · 2019: 47 · 2018: 66 · 2017: 34 · 2016: 76 · 2015: 47 · 2014: 41 · 2013: 26 · 2012: 10
- FWCI
- 185.84
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Digital Commons - University of South Florida (University of South Florida) (submittedVersion)
- Research Online (University of Wollongong) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- National Science Foundation (0917739, 0551927)
- Wenner-Gren Foundation
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Anthropology › Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology
- Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Paleontology › Archaeology and ancient environmental studies
- Social Sciences › Archeology › Archaeology and Rock Art Studies
- Keywords
- Acheulean, Wonderwerk Cave, burnt bone, microstratigraphy, micromorphology
- MeSH terms
- Animals, Anthropology, Cultural Evolution, Fires, Fossils, Humans, South Africa, Hominidae, Microspectrophotometry, History, Ancient, Tool Use Behavior
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