14. Fire

Fire was brought into our world many years ago. Although we do not know the exact date fire came into existence, we do know that it was used by H. ergaster. They lived in Africa and Europe which was very cold. As they moved from Africa to Europe, they needed the use of fire to continue their journey through the winter. Tools and fossils have been found at archeology sites that suggest H. ergaster used fire. In Koobi Fora, archaeologists found baked earth and stone tools at a site dated about 1.6 mya. The chemical signature is of a campfire which implies it was not a natural fire. Also At Swartkrans Cave archaeologists found burnt pieces of animal bones and remains of P. robustus. A Microscopic analysis was done over the bones. They found out there was a long burning fire. Homo heidelbergensis also used fire around 300, 000 BC. They used fire to drive animals over cliffs and into areas where groups of 20-30 people were waiting to kill the animals. There were 40,000 such groups in the world! Some fossils suggest they hunted wild deer, horses, elephants, hippos, and rhinos. They also built hearths, or fire places, to control fire, share food, keep warm, and keep predators away.

Information Sources: Chapter Thirteen: from hominin to homo [[1]] , Homo heidelbergensis [[2]] , Manual- page 26

Picture Sources: Homo heidelbergensis [[3]] , H. egraster [[4]] , Fire [[ ]]

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