Cave discovery pushes back evidence of human ancestors using fire to 1.79M years ago

Researchers judge they've uncovered past grounds that aboriginal quality ancestors utilized occurrence successful an African cave — pushing backmost the timeline by hundreds of thousands of years.

The discovery, made astatine a cave successful South Africa called Wonderwerk Cave, was announced successful a June 24 property merchandise from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Wonderwerk Cave is located successful South Africa's Kalahari Desert, astir 90 miles from the Botswana border.

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At the site, researchers recovered grounds that aboriginal quality ancestors utilized occurrence successful the cave arsenic galore arsenic 1.79 cardinal years agone — pushing backmost the timeline for 1 of the earliest known records of occurrence usage by hominins.

In 2012, researchers astatine Wonderwerk Cave reported what was past considered the world's oldest known grounds of intentional occurrence use, dating to astir 1 cardinal years ago.

Researchers accidental caller grounds from South Africa's Wonderwerk Cave suggests that aboriginal quality ancestors were utilizing occurrence arsenic acold backmost arsenic 1.79 cardinal years ago. (The Africa Image Library via Alamy)

In a survey published precocious successful the diary PLOS One, researchers described utilizing a caller method to place grounds of burning successful fossilized bones.

At the site, researchers besides recovered grounds of owl pellets being utilized arsenic fuel, arsenic good arsenic burned carnal bones astir 100 feet wrong the cave.

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"Using a recently developed method that tin observe signs of burning successful fossilized bones, researchers identified repeated grounds of occurrence heavy wrong the cave," the assemblage said successful a statement.

"Because these traces were recovered acold beyond the scope of earthy wildfires, the findings suggest that aboriginal humans were deliberately bringing people occurring occurrence into the cave and keeping it burning."

Evidence uncovered astatine Wonderwerk Cave, pictured above, could propulsion backmost 1 of the earliest known records of hominin occurrence usage by hundreds of thousands of years. (Greatstock via Alamy)

Fox News Digital reached retired to the researchers for comment.

The assemblage noted that occurrence gave aboriginal humans respective endurance advantages.

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"Fire offered galore advantages, including warmth, extortion from predators, airy aft dark, and yet the quality to navigator food," the merchandise added.

"Even so, determining erstwhile humans archetypal began utilizing occurrence has remained 1 of archaeology's astir hard questions."

"Early humans were not simply passive observers of earthy fires. They were actively engaging with occurrence and incorporating it into their lives."

Though it appears aboriginal humans were susceptible of transporting and maintaining occurrence wrong caves, researchers cautioned that this does not mean they could make occurrence whenever they wanted.

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"Instead, the findings bespeak that they apt collected occurrence from earthy sources, specified arsenic lightning strikes oregon wildfires connected the African savanna," the merchandise says.

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"According to the researchers, these past humans brought occurrence into the cave connected aggregate occasions and maintained it for a play earlier it yet went out."

Liora Kolska Horwitz, a researcher with the National Natural History Collections astatine the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and co-director of the Wonderwerk Cave project, said that grounds of past fires is typically "subtle and hard to detect."

The survey builds connected earlier discoveries astatine Wonderwerk Cave, wherever researchers antecedently reported grounds of intentional occurrence usage dating to astir 1 cardinal years ago. (Greatstock via Alamy)

"Our survey provides caller tools for identifying traces of past burning and reveals that occurrence was repeatedly contiguous heavy wrong Wonderwerk Cave," she said.

Kolska Horwitz added, "These discoveries amusement that aboriginal humans were not simply passive observers of earthy fires. They were actively engaging with occurrence and incorporating it into their lives."

The find follows a akin breakthrough successful Barnham, England, reported successful 2025.

The researchers accidental their findings amusement aboriginal humans were actively engaging with occurrence alternatively than simply observing people occurring blazes. (iStock)

There, researchers uncovered what they said was the earliest grounds of humans deliberately making fire, dating to astir 400,000 years ago.

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Before the Barnham discovery, the earliest known grounds of deliberate fire-making dated to astir 50,000 years agone successful bluish France.