{"id":21110,"date":"2022-12-05T17:56:18","date_gmt":"2022-12-05T16:56:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sciencefocus.com\/?p=132223"},"modified":"2022-12-05T18:42:13","modified_gmt":"2022-12-05T17:42:13","slug":"like-modern-humans-homo-naledi-harnessed-fire-for-light-warmth-and-cooking","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcsciencefocus\/rss_feed\/like-modern-humans-homo-naledi-harnessed-fire-for-light-warmth-and-cooking\/","title":{"rendered":"Like modern humans, Homo Naledi harnessed fire for light, warmth and cooking"},"content":{"rendered":"

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By Jason Goodyer\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Monday, 05 December 2022 at 12:00 am<\/p>

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It is often said the ability to make fire is one of the key skills that defines humans \u2013 it allowed our ancestors to cook food, keep warm and eventually become the most dominant species on the planet.<\/p>\n

Recently, evidence has been found across Europe to suggest that Neanderthals were also skilled fire users but now we may have to add another species to the list. Researchers excavating a complex network of caves in South Africa say they have unearthed evidence that Homo naledi<\/em>, an extinct species of hominid that lived 200,000 to 300,000 years ago, also used fire as a tool.<\/p>\n

The finding was announced at a lecture given by Prof Lee Berger<\/a> of the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg at Carnegie Institution of Science in Washington on 1 December<\/a>. It has not yet been peer-reviewed<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are fairly confident to formulate the hypothesis that this small-brained hominid, Homo naledi<\/em>, that existed at the same time we believe Homo sapiens were sharing parts of Africa, was using fire for a variety of purposes,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The remains of Homo naledi<\/em> was first discovered in 2013 by Berger and his team hundreds of metres into a claustrophobically tight network of passages known as the Rising Star Cave system near Johannesburg, South Africa.<\/p>\n

Subsequent excavations have since unearthed fossils from more than a dozen individuals \u2013 both male and female, juvenile and adult \u2013 as well as evidence of ritualistic burial practices in which the remains of certain individuals appear to have been washed and deliberately placed in position.<\/p>\n

Then, earlier this year, after entering the caves himself for the first time, Berger says he noticed evidence of soot on the surfaces of the walls.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs I looked up and stared at the roof, I began to realise that the roof was not a pure calcium carbonate. The roof above my head was greyed above fresh flowstone. There were blackened areas across the wall. There were soot particles across the whole of the surface. The entire roof of the chamber where we have spent the last seven years working is burnt and blackened,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

At the same time, expedition co-director Dr Keneiloe Molopyane<\/a>, uncovered the remains of a small hearth containing burnt antelope bones flanked by the remains of a much larger hearth in a nearby cave.<\/p>\n

Further investigation of the system then uncovered several other caves and passages with chunks of burnt wood and charred animal bones.<\/p>\n

\u201cFire is not hard to find. It\u2019s everywhere within this system,\u201d said Berger. \u201cEverywhere there\u2019s a complex juncture, they built fire. Every adjacent cave system to the chambers where we believe they were disposing of the dead, they built fires and cooked animals. And in the chamber where we believe they were disposing of the dead, they built fire but didn\u2019t cook animals. That\u2019s extraordinary.\u201d<\/p>\n

And there may be to come. Following the conference Berger Tweeted: \u201cSo. I have a terrible, shameful admission. The fire. It\u2019s not the big discovery I\u2019ve been tweeting about. There\u2019s a bigger one. Actually there are three bigger than fire coming. Sorry.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

The team now plan to work on radiocarbon dating their finds to firm up the link between the hearths and the Homo Naledi<\/em> fossils.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the most extraordinary period of exploration and discovery, and it\u2019s going to continue,\u201d said Berger. \u201cThe next generation don\u2019t have a fear of exploration. Technology is opening spaces and places none of us could\u2019ve have ever thought.\u201d<\/p>\n