By Mary Beth Cox
Odyssey: Adventures in Science
One day, long, long ago, a person decided to try taming fire. Everyone was scared of fire because of their past experiences: wildfires. Wildfires were caused by lightning striking a tree, or by volcanic material. They destroyed everything in their path, burning entire forests to the ground, along with all the animals in it. No doubt this was very scary for the prehistoric people, seeing everything they knew swallowed up by the flames. But one person was curious about fire, and decided to try to tame it. That person changed humanity.
It is accepted that human have used fire for at least 250,000 years. At that time, hearths began to appear at prehistoric campsites in Europe. Hearths are basic fireplaces, usually surrounded by a ring of rocks. They sometimes contain burnt bone fragments and singed tools, and sometimes unburnt versions of these are sometimes scattered nearby, proof that those early humans used fire.
“Another very important distinction between hearth fires and wildfires is temperature. Hearth fires heat objects to much higher temperatures than wildfires do.”
It is accepted that human have used fire for at least 250,000 years. At that time, hearths began to appear at prehistoric campsites in Europe. Hearths are basic fireplaces, usually surrounded by a ring of rocks. They sometimes contain burnt bone fragments and singed tools, and sometimes unburnt versions of these are sometimes scattered nearby, proof that those early humans used fire.
“Another very important distinction between hearth fires and wildfires is temperature. Hearth fires heat objects to much higher temperatures than wildfires do.”
Artifacts can be analyzed for chemical changes to find out if they were burnt during a wildfire or a hearth fire. With this type of scientific dating, it has been hinted that the first human intentional usage of fire might have occurred over 1,000,000 years ago!
One sample of this is the people of Swartkrans a million years ago. They could have known how to use fire, though not how start one. They could have dragged smouldering logs from wildfires back to their camps and lit them there.
The benefits of fire are many, though it might not sound like a good idea:
v Cooked food was tasty and easier to digest than raw food.
v It disabled some bacteria and worms in the raw meat.
v It also destroyed toxins so that some usually poisonous food became edible.
v Fire kept people warm in the winter.
v It provided light for late-night dances and socializing.
v It also warded off predators.
v Cooked food was tasty and easier to digest than raw food.
v It disabled some bacteria and worms in the raw meat.
v It also destroyed toxins so that some usually poisonous food became edible.
v Fire kept people warm in the winter.
v It provided light for late-night dances and socializing.
v It also warded off predators.
Experimentation with fire shows that prehistoric humans could experiment with a natural phenomenon that was normally a source of disaster, and put it to good use. “That’s what scientists do to this day!”
Cox, Mary Beth."Taming Fire: the First Scientist?" Odyssey: Adventures in Science Oct. 2009: 23-24. Print.
Cox, Mary Beth."Taming Fire: the First Scientist?" Odyssey: Adventures in Science Oct. 2009: 23-24. Print.
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