300,000-year-old hearth found: Microscopic evidence shows repeated fire use in one spot over time
Monday, January 27, 2014 - 13:00
in Paleontology & Archaeology
When did humans really begin to control fire and use it for their daily needs? Scientists discovered in the Qesem Cave, an archaeological site near present-day Rosh Ha'ayin, the earliest evidence -- dating to around 300,000 years ago -- of unequivocal repeated fire building over a continuous period. These findings help answer the question and hint that those prehistoric humans already had a highly advanced social structure and intellectual capacity.