The Edge: More on Fire-Making by about 1.7 Million Years Ago at Wonderwerk Cave in South Africa

Microstratigraphic evidence of in situ fire in the Acheulean strata of Wonderwerk Cave, Northern Cape province, South Africa

“…1D). The longest Earlier Stone Age (ESA) sequence, approximately 2 m deep, is found in excavation 1, currently located approximately 30 m in from the cave mouth, immediately behind a large, active stalagmite which developed during the past 35,000 y (22,23).…”

“…2C). These white layers were at first erroneously interpreted as remains of combustion features (23).…”

Earliest fire in Africa: towards the convergence of archaeological evidence and the cooking hypothesis

“…A large horizontal phreatic tube cave, more than 100 metres long, this site contains Pleistocene sediments to a depth of more than 5 metres (Beaumont and Vogel 2006;Chazan et al 2008;Beaumont 2011;Berna et al 2012). The artefact assemblages here extend from the Later Stone Age possibly as far back as the Oldowan, with the Acheulean well represented through deeper levels.…”

Pleistocene Palaeoart of Asia

“…Zhoukoudian Site 1 is part of a complex of twenty-six sites, and has also yielded the largest sample of Homo erectus remains (most of which disappeared in the Second World War) and very early but long controversial evidence of fire use. In view of the much earlier, clear-cut proof of controlled fire use in Wonderwerk Cave, South Africa (Beaumont 2011; Bednarik 2011: Figures 6.1, 6.2) [7,35], there is no longer any need to question the Zhoukoudian evidence. Stone spheres have also been frequently found in the deposits containing the Homo erectus finds, but while they tend to be grapefruit sized elsewhere, for instance at Lantian, they appear to be somewhat smaller at Zhoukoudian Site 1, of around 6-8 cm diameter.…”