Evidence from the Swartkrans cave for the earliest use of fire

Brain, C. K.; Sillent, A.

doi:10.1038/336464a0

Cited by 237 publications

(108 citation statements)

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“…1.5 Ma) and Koobi Fora (ca. 1.6 Ma), and remains controversial for some of the reasons explained below (Brain and Sillen, 1988;Gowlett et al, 1981;Bellomo and Kean, 1997;Clark and Harris, 1985). Additional archaeological discoveries, however, as at Gesher Benot Ya'aqov in Israel, give further indications of a long timescale for fire use (Goren-Inbar et al, 2004).…”

Section: Evidence Of Fire Usementioning

confidence: 99%

Humans in the Hoxnian: habitat, context and fire use at Beeches Pit, West Stow, Suffolk, UK

Preece

Gowlett

Parfitt

et al. 2006

J Quaternary Science

110

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A Lower Palaeolithic industry at Beeches Pit, West Stow, Suffolk, occurs within an interglacial sequence that immediately overlies glacial deposits, referable to the Anglian Lowestoft Formation. There is strong biostratigraphical evidence from both vertebrates and molluscs that the interglacial represented is the Hoxnian (MIS 11). This conclusion is supported by uranium series dates from carbonate nodules (>400 kyr), TL dates from burnt flint (414 AE 30 kyr) and a range of amino acid racemisation data. The archaeology consists of flint artefacts of Acheulian character, including many refitting examples. Charred material is abundant in three stratigraphical units and many bones and flints have been burnt, indicating repeated occurrence of fire. Several discrete areas of burnt sediment appear to be hearths. This interpretation is supported by: (1) the intensity of burning (600-8008C) implied by the charred and calcined bones; (2) the intersection of two of the burnt areas, implying separate burning events at slightly different, overlapping locations; (3) the discovery of two burnt flakes that refit onto an adjacent group that are unburnt, indicating that the burning was highly localised; and (4) the spatial distribution of artefacts respects the features interpreted as hearths, suggesting fireside knapping. Fossils associated with the archaeology indicate occupation within closed deciduous forest in a fully temperate climate. Attractions to this unusual environment would have included the fresh water provided by springs, a rich supply of potential food and a prolific source of good quality flint for tool manufacture. The archaeological evidence therefore suggests that the site repeatedly served as an area of focused activities (perhaps a 'home-base') during much of the interglacial. The upper levels of the sequence provide clear faunal evidence of climatic deterioration during which human occupation and fire use persisted. Biostratigraphical correlations with other Lower Palaeolithic sites lend support to the suggestion that Acheulian and Clactonian industries occurred in Britain during the same substage of the Hoxnian, although not necessarily at precisely the same time.

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Section: Evidence Of Fire Usementioning

confidence: 99%

Humans in the Hoxnian: habitat, context and fire use at Beeches Pit, West Stow, Suffolk, UK

Preece

Gowlett

Parfitt

et al. 2006

J Quaternary Science

110

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“…There are several suggestions for what might constitute this energy-rich diet, from animal meat and marrow (Walker et al, 1982;Shipman and Walker, 1989;Leonard and Robertson, 2000; to honey (Skinner, 1991) and underground tubers (e.g., Wrangham et al, 1999). While all may have contributed as important resources, the limited evidence for fire until well after the origin of H. erectus (Bellomo, 1994;Brain and Sillen, 1988) reduces the viability of the "tuber as resource" argument, since these require fire to release their nutritional bounty. Similarly, honey was found to contain less vitamin A than previous models had assumed (Skinner et al, 1995).…”

Section: Brain Size Increase: Costs Benefits and Consequencesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Natural history ofHomo erectus

Antón

2003

Am. J. Phys. Anthropol.

416

154

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Our view of H. erectus is vastly different today than when Pithecanthropus erectus was described in 1894. Since its synonimization into Homo, views of the species and its distribution have varied from a single, widely dispersed, polytypic species ultimately ancestral to all later Homo, to a derived, regional isolate ultimately marginal to later hominin evolution. A revised chronostratigraphic framework and recent work bearing either directly or indirectly on reconstructions of life-history patterns are reviewed here and, together with a review of the cranial and postcranial anatomy of H. erectus, are used to generate a natural history of the species. Here I argue that H. erectus is a hominin, notable for its increased body size, that originates in the latest Pliocene/earliest Pleistocene of Africa and quickly disperses into Western and Eastern Asia. It is also an increasingly derived hominin with several regional morphs sustained by intermittent isolation, particularly in Southeast Asia. This view differs from several current views, most especially that which recognizes only a single hominin species in the Pleistocene, H. sapiens, and those which would atomize H. erectus into a multiplicity of taxa. Following Jolly ([2001] Yrbk Phys Anthropol 44:177-204), the regional morphs of H. erectus may be productively viewed as geographically replacing allotaxa, rather than as the focus of unresolvable species debates. Such a view allows us to focus on the adaptations and biology of local groups, including questions of biogeographic isolation and local adaptation. A number of issues remain unresolved, including the significance of diversity in size and shape in the early African and Georgian records.

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“…Although cooking is clearly an important innovation in hominid evolution that served to increase dietary digestibility and quality, there is very limited evidence for the controlled use of fire by hominids prior to 1.5 Ma (Brain and Sillen, 1988;Bellomo, 1994;Pesini, 1999). The more widely held view is that the use of fire and cooking did not occur until considerably later in human evolution, probably closer to 200-250,000 years ago (Straus, 1989;Weiner et al, 1998), although possibly as early as 400,000 years ago (Preece et al, 2006).…”

Section: Diet Qualitymentioning

confidence: 99%

The Energetics of Encephalization in Early Hominids

Snodgrass

Leonard

Robertson

2009

The Evolution of Hominin Diets

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Bioenergetics, the study of the use and transfer of energy, can provide important insights into the ecology and evolution of early hominids. Despite a relatively large brain with high metabolic demands, contemporary humans and other primates have resting metabolic rates (RMRs) that are similar to those of other mammals. As a result, a comparatively large proportion of their resting energy budget is spent on brain metabolism among humans (~20-25%) and other primates (~8-10%) compared to other mammals (~3-5%). To understand this shift in energy budget, Aiello and Wheeler's Expensive Tissue Hypothesis (ETH) posits a metabolic trade-off-a reduction in gut size with brain size increase-to explain this phenomenon. Here, we explore the interrelationships between brain size, body size, diet, and body composition using comparative data for humans, non-human primates, and other mammals. Among living primates, the relative proportion of energy allocated to brain metabolism is positively correlated with dietary quality. Contemporary humans fall at the positive end of this relationship, having both a high quality diet and a large brain. Thus, high costs associated with the large human brain are supported, in part, by energy-rich diets. Although contemporary humans display relatively small guts, primates as a group have gut sizes that are similar to non-primate mammals. In contrast, humans and other primates have significantly less skeletal muscle for their size compared to other mammals. These comparative analyses suggest that alterations in diet quality and body composition were necessary conditions for overcoming the constraints on encephalization. Fossil evidence indicates that brain expansion with the emergence of Homo erectus at about 1.8 million years ago was likely associated with important changes in diet, body composition, and body size.

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Evidence from the Swartkrans cave for the earliest use of fire

Cited by 237 publications

References 4 publications

Humans in the Hoxnian: habitat, context and fire use at Beeches Pit, West Stow, Suffolk, UK

Humans in the Hoxnian: habitat, context and fire use at Beeches Pit, West Stow, Suffolk, UK

Natural history ofHomo erectus

The Energetics of Encephalization in Early Hominids

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