UK Earliest Human Fire-Making Discovery

Researchers led by the British Museum have discovered the earliest known evidence of human fire-making in the United Kingdom, dating back over 400,000 years. The find, at a disused clay pit near Barnham, Suffolk, pushes back the timeline for human-made fire by 350,000 years from previous records. The evidence includes fire-cracked flint hand axes, heated sediments, and fragments of iron pyrite, a mineral rare in the area, suggesting it was deliberately brought to the site for fire-making. Geochemical tests confirmed repeated human use of fire, distinguishing it from wildfires. Professor Nick Ashton of the British Museum called it the 'most exciting discovery of my 40-year career'. Professor Chris Stringer of the Natural History Museum, London, noted that these fires were likely made by early Neanderthal people and had profound effects on human evolution, including increased survival, cooking, social interaction, and potentially the development of language and larger brains. The findings were published in the journal Nature (journal).