Evolution of Fire: Impact on Human Evolution and Adaptation

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EVOLUTION OF FIRE
One of the most tremedious discoveries that human made during the evolution period
was the ability to control fire. This was an achievement that distinguished them from apes in
whom it believed they evolved from them. Meanwhile, Researchers of both the early times

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and the modern have some differences based on facts on the exact time at which humanity-
controlled fire for the first time, (Roebroeks & Villa, 2011), Listed the arguments that
indicated the earliest possible use of fire by the early hominies being was in Africa at about
1.6 million years ago around swartkrans in south Africa to be specific. However, James et al.
(1989, 16) describes that fire might have been used to burn bones which they were used as
tools by the early hominins in about 1.0 million years ago or earlier. this proved that they
were carnivorous and they were used to hunting. They also claim that the use of fire in a
controlled fashion took place about 300, 000 to 400, 000 years ago when they used it for
other purposes like lighting the caves and attacking the wild animals. None of these claims
have been proven , but most of archeologists argues that due the low temperatures and high
freezing points in areas like Europe which was experiencing colonization at the time they
used fire for warmth. this shown some traces that use of fire was invented in the early days of
evolution of human kind.
They recorded East Africa as the origin of the control of use of fire. The first site was
in East Turkana near Lake Baringo at Chesowanjan. The first site contains traces of the stone
tools that had been altered with heat as well as preserves of the burned sediments. Many
archeologists believe that this site is a strong candidate that may indeed depict a case of the
earliest use of fire by the hominins. Similar preserves are found at the second site,Gadeb cite
in Ethiopia but the only difference with the first site is the clasts of the baked clay instead of
the burnt material as with the first site. These materials are strongly associated with an
adjacent natural burning feature, which cannot be traced.
James et al. (1989) noted that the ability to control the use of fire and manufacturing
of the stone tools were very critical to the human evolution because this gave people an
advantage of adapting over the other animals. Stone tools were discovered earlier than the

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control and manipulation of fire by hominins, but both benefited the humanity over the rest of
the animals through the increased capability to feed through burning the meat, make other
materials and to get protection. Besides, the knowledge from the fire would enable the human
to keep warm, light their surrounding and scare wild animals.
James et al. (1989) indicate that Kenya and China could form the earliest sites of the
cases of use of fire by the hominins with Kenya dating back to 1.4 million years ago at the
Chesowanja site and China’s Yuanmou site tracing back to 1.7 million years ago. However,
the is no evidence for these claims. The cave home of the Beijing man in china can be
considered to be one of the earliest homes to have had central heating in across the temperate
regions if the ash layers are used in representing the in-situ fires (James et al., 1989). No one
can prove the assumption that fire was introduced and distributed by a man just like the
assumption that the existence of burned bones among other materials indicated the use of fire
by man in cooking and also making of tools which resembled the heart.
Other than Kenya, China, and Ethiopian sites as candidates for the earliest cases of the
control and manipulation of fire by hominins, Gowlett (2016, 4) highlights other sites, which
are approximately 1.0 to 1.5 Million years. These sites include South African caves of
Wonderwerk and Swartkrans and the Kalambo Falls’ open site in Zambia (Clark and Harris,
1985, 7). The Swartkrans site is a roofed gully in which traces of burnt bone fragments and
the bone tools in the 17 square excavations,providing a strong argument that they did not
originate from the savannah fires which used to sweep up to the site due to the natural fires.
Wonderwerk site indicates a possible introduction of the vegetation materials such as grass
into the cave from the evidence of studies in the stratum 10. These materials were burned
alongside the bone preserved as microscopic fragments and traces back to approximately 1.0
Ma. Gesher Benot Ya’aqov’s site in Israel contain burnt materials preserved in a 30 meter-