Evidence for the cooking of fish 780,000 years ago at Gesher Benot Ya’aqov, Israel

Zohar, Irit; Alperson-Afil, Nira; Goren‐Inbar, Naama; Prévost, Marión; Tütken, Thomas; Sisma-Ventura, Guy; Hershkovitz, Israel; Najorka, Jens

doi:10.1038/s41559-022-01910-z

Cited by 27 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 69 publications

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“…George (2022) recently reported on the use of fire by Homo naledi living in subequatorial Africa 300-200 kya ago (Berger et al, 2017). Zohar et al (2022) reported evidence of hearth-related hominin activities and substantial number of fish remains (>40,000) at the early Middle Pleistocene site of Gesher Benot Yaťaqov, Israel being dated as 780,000 years old.…”

Section: Origin and Historymentioning

confidence: 99%

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Processed foods: From their emergence to resilient technologies

Knorr

Sevenich

2023

Comp Rev Food Sci Food Safe

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Humans need food processing assuring food safety, quality, and functionality to sustain their life. The ongoing debates regarding food processing require rational and scientific data about food processing and processed foods. This study deals with the importance, origins, and history of processing, defining processes and discussing existing food classification systems and provides recommendations for future food process development. Descriptions and comparisons of technologies for food preservation, their resource efficiency, and beneficial aspects in relation to traditional processing are summarized. Possibilities for pretreatments or combination application and related potentials are provided. A consumer‐oriented paradigm change is presented using the potential of resilient technologies for food product improvements rather than the traditional adaptation of raw materials to existing processes. Means for food science and technology research toward dietary changes by transparent, gentle, and resource‐efficient processes for consumers food preference, acceptance, and needs are provided.

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Section: Origin and Historymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Zohar et al. (2022) reported evidence of hearth‐related hominin activities and substantial number of fish remains (>40,000) at the early Middle Pleistocene site of Gesher Benot Ya´aqov, Israel being dated as 780,000 years old.…”

Section: Food Processingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Processed foods: From their emergence to resilient technologies

Knorr

Sevenich

2023

Comp Rev Food Sci Food Safe

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“…This view was further expanded to the African continent, as several studies proposed the existence of some of these traits among earlier AMH populations in Middle Stone Age sites throughout Africa (e.g., Brown et al 2009;d'Errico et al 2005;Henshilwood et al 2002;Marean et al 2007). However, many recent studies point to the existence of such capabilities among Neanderthals as well (e.g., Finlayson 2019;Hoffmann et al 2018;Roebroeks et al 2012;Soressi et al 2013), as well as among other pre-AMH species (e.g., Agam 2020;Rabinovich et al 2012;Zohar et al 2022), suggesting that this view should be re-considered (and see Breyl 2021).…”

Section: Evidence Of Heat Treatment and Modern Human Behaviourmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Outside Africa, early cases of human use of fire are known from Gesher Benot Ya'aqov (Israel; Alperson-Afil 2008;Alperson-Afil and Goren-Inbar 2010;Zohar et al 2022) and Cueva Negra (Spain; Walker et al 2016), both dated to ~780 kya. However, both cases are followed by a long time gap from which no fire-use is currently known, until around 400 kya, with the identification of fire at Qesem Cave (Israel; Barkai et al 2017) in the Levant, and Beeches Pit (England; Preece et al 2006) in Europe.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Flint Heat Treatment at Late Neanderthal Site Sesselfelsgrotte (Germany)

Agam

Hattermann

Pinkas

et al. 2023

Preprint

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We examine lithic artifacts from Late Neanderthal site Sesselfelsgrotte (Bavaria, Germany) to evaluate the possibility of fire-use and the intentional flint heat treatment performed by Late Neanderthals. We analyzed 1,113 flint pieces from the G-Layers-Complex (~ 60 to 45 kya; Micoquian), and 946 from the Lower-Layers-Complex (~ 115 to 70 kya; Mousterian), based on macroscopic traits associated with the exposure of flint to fire, assigning artifacts to one of three groups: burnt, unburnt, and possibly intentionally heated. Our results show that while both complexes demonstrate clear presence of fire, fire is more common in the younger G-Layers-Complex. Moreover, possibly intentionally heated pieces are significantly more frequent in the G-Layers-Complex, especially among the tools, and specifically among side scrapers, proposing a link between heat treatment and the production of these tools, most probably due to their functional and cultural significance. We therefore suggest the intentional heat treatment of flint in the G-Layers-Complex of Sesselfelsgrotte. The proportions of burnt flint artifacts in both sequences suggest an intensification in fire-use at the site over time, while the appearance of possibly intentionally heated artifacts in the G-Layers-Complex suggests the development of this advanced pyro-technology by Neanderthals, sometime between these two timeframes. Our results are supported by sedimentological and faunal data. We view these results as further indication for the advanced cognitive and technological capabilities of Neanderthals, such that did not fall from these of Early Modern Humans.

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“…Humans have been using fire for hundreds of thousands of years: the intentional use of fire traces back to the Middle Pleistocene of the Levant [13,14] but understandably spread as a common practice just afterwards [15]. Whereas the earliest fire usage may suggest cooking and anti-predatory activities, the more widespread use of fire to repel predators and allow extra-social interactions may have led to a "daylight extension", in which humans have developed an activity peak during late evening hours, an unusual condition compared to the mammalian standard, including other primates [16].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Flame-forged divergence? Ancient human fires and the evolution of diurnal and nocturnal lineages in Mediterranean geckos

Fulgione,

Russo,

Rivieccio

et al. 2024

Preprint

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Two distinct and sympatric populations of Moorish gecko (Tarentola mauritanica) can be easily distinguished: the diurnal-dark gecko, which mainly lives on trees, and the nocturnal-pale gecko, recognizable on anthropic buildings' walls, especially nearby artificial lights, in order to increase the chances to get preys. Here we hypothesize that this evolutionary splitting was determined by the choice of the anthropogenic niche occurring in a population of Moorish gecko back in the time when Homo sapiens used fire in its settlements, luring insects to positive phototaxis. The frequentation of the new trophic niche created by human through light has increasingly strengthened the distinctive traits in the nocturnal population of geckos, driving sympatric speciation by selection for background matching. We provide empirical evidence supporting this hypothesis, suggesting that the nocturnal-pale geckos split from the diurnal-dark populations due to the innate plastic variation determined by their ability to adjust their skin color and later reinforcement of depigmentation. Our study inaugurates an interesting line of investigation that could shed light on the impact that humankind has on the evolutionary trajectories of non-domesticated species, endowed with adaptive plasticity, functional to the exploration and colonization of the anthropic niche.

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Evidence for the cooking of fish 780,000 years ago at Gesher Benot Ya’aqov, Israel

Cited by 27 publications

References 69 publications

Processed foods: From their emergence to resilient technologies

Processed foods: From their emergence to resilient technologies

Flint Heat Treatment at Late Neanderthal Site Sesselfelsgrotte (Germany)

Flame-forged divergence? Ancient human fires and the evolution of diurnal and nocturnal lineages in Mediterranean geckos

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