Two methods of making fire being used by early humans. The first method (left) involved rotating the pointed end of a stick in a dry piece of wood. The other method (right) involved rubbing two pieces of dry wood together. Evidence of fire use came from the discovery of Stone Age flint tools, which were used for scraping and cutting meat. The Stone Age spanned from about 3.4 million years ago to about 6000 BCE. Artwork from Primitive Man (Louis Figuier, 1870).
Long before matches, lighters or even carefully tended campfires, ancient humans in what is now eastern England may already have mastered one of the most transformative skills in human history: making fire on demand.
A new study published December 10, 2025, in the journal Nature reports what researchers describe as the earliest strong evidence yet that humans deliberately made fire, pushing the origin of this technology back to about 400,000 years ago. The research, titled “Earliest evidence of making fire,” is based on archaeological findings from the Paleolithic site of Barnham in Suffolk, England.
The international research team was led by Rob Davis, with co-authors including Nick Ashton, Chris Stringer, Simon A. Parfitt, Silvia M. Bello, and several other specialists in archaeology, geology and paleoanthropology.
Evidence Beyond Natural Fires
At the Barnham site, researchers identified a combination of clues that together point to deliberate fire-making rather than the opportunistic use of natural wildfires. These included heat-altered sediments, flint tools fractured by intense heat, and two small fragments of iron pyrite, a mineral known to produce sparks when struck against flint.
Crucially, pyrite does not occur naturally in the local geology around Barnham. Its presence suggests it was transported intentionally, strengthening the case that early humans brought the necessary materials to create fire rather than simply collecting embers from lightning strikes or forest fires.
“This is not just evidence that fire was present,” said Rob Davis, the study’s lead author. “It suggests knowledge, planning and the deliberate transport of materials needed to generate fire.”
Laboratory analysis indicates that the sediments had been heated to temperatures exceeding 700 degrees Celsius, a range consistent with controlled combustion rather than accidental burning caused by natural events.
A Technological Turning Point
Fire is widely regarded as a cornerstone of human evolution. It provides warmth, light and protection from predators, and allows food to be cooked, improving digestibility and nutrition. The ability to make fire at will would have given early humans a major survival advantage, especially in cooler climates like Ice Age Britain.
Nick Ashton, a curator at the British Museum and a co-author of the study, emphasized the environmental implications of the discovery.
“Britain 400,000 years ago was not an easy place to live,” Ashton said. “Being able to create fire would have made seasonal occupation possible and may explain how early humans expanded into northern latitudes.”
Ashton noted that the discovery suggests fire-making was not an occasional or experimental skill but part of a broader technological toolkit used by hominin groups living in northwestern Europe.
No human remains were found at the Barnham site itself. However, fossils of similar age from other parts of Europe — including Swanscombe in England and Sima de los Huesos in Spain — point to early Neanderthals or Neanderthal ancestors as the most likely candidates.
Chris Stringer, a paleoanthropologist at the Natural History Museum in London and a co-author of the paper, said the findings fit well with what is known about Neanderthal behavior.
“This adds to growing evidence that Neanderthals were not just capable of complex behavior, but that some of its roots go much deeper in time,” Stringer said. “Fire-making would have been central to social life, technology and survival.”
Rewriting the Timeline
Until now, the clearest archaeological evidence for deliberate fire-making dated to around 50,000 years ago, mainly associated with later Neanderthals in parts of continental Europe. Earlier sites often showed signs of burning, but scientists struggled to rule out natural causes.
The Barnham evidence stands out because it combines chemical analysis, tool damage, and non-local fire-starting materials, forming what researchers describe as the strongest case yet for intentional fire production so far back in time.
“This doesn’t mean earlier humans never used fire,” Davis said. “But it does suggest that by 400,000 years ago, some groups had moved beyond simply exploiting natural fires and had learned how to create their own.”
Archaeologists have long debated when humans first controlled fire. Burned bones and sediments dating back more than one million years have been reported from sites in Africa and the Middle East, but these finds remain controversial because natural fires cannot be ruled out.
Most researchers agree that habitual fire use — and especially fire-making — emerged gradually rather than in a single breakthrough. The Barnham discovery adds a critical chapter to that story, suggesting that reliable fire production was established far earlier than once believed.
“Fire didn’t just change how humans lived,” Stringer said. “It changed who we became.”
The researchers say further excavations and improved analytical techniques may reveal even older evidence elsewhere. For now, the study reshapes understanding of how and when one of humanity’s defining technologies first appeared. (Wage Erlangga)
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