When did humans first learn to use fire for cooking food? Archaeologists and biologists have uncovered answers to this mystery.
Cooking food is a crucial practice. Some researchers suggest that this ability enabled our ancestors to absorb more energy and nutrients, which contributed to the development of the human brain.
While the exact time is unknown, evidence indicates that humans have been cooking food for at least 50,000 years and possibly as far back as 2 million years ago. This evidence has been found in the fields of archaeology and biology.
Traces of human-made fires and burned animal bones may shed light on when humans began to cook their food. (Illustration: AI).
One archaeological piece of evidence for cooking is the starch grains found in the calculus of human teeth dating back 50,000 years. However, evidence of earlier cooking practices remains unclear.
Generally, scientists seek proof of humans controlling fire, but this evidence is not the only indicator of cooking. For instance, humans may have used fire for warmth or to create necessary tools.
Professor Bethan Linscott from the University of Oxford, a specialist in archaeological geochemistry, noted that numerous signs of fire have been found at archaeological sites. The challenge lies in determining whether these fires were intentionally set by humans or were the result of natural wildfires.
It is entirely possible that a wildfire occurred, and early humans picked up a smoldering branch to utilize for cooking or tool-making. A key aspect of searching for evidence of fire control is finding a human-made fire structure.
Thus, stones arranged in a circle with minimal ash in the center could either represent plant remnants or silica structures formed from decomposed plant matter, along with charred tools.
Researchers have discovered these tools in various habitats of upright humans, indicating that these ancestors had previously used fire.
One research group found evidence of a 300,000-year-old hearth in Qesem Cave in Israel, located near the remains of butchered animal bones. Additionally, a 400,000-year-old hearth in a cave in Suffolk, England, contained burned bones and flint.
Looking even further back in time, charcoal found in Wonderwerk Cave in South Africa could also indicate cooking practices from around one million years ago. This cave, located 30 meters deep, suggests that the fire here was unlikely to be from a natural process, but rather likely controlled by prehistoric humans.
Similar evidence dating back 1.6 million years has also been found in Kenya.
At the archaeological site of Gesher Benot Ya’aqov in Israel, researchers discovered stone circles resembling fire pits alongside numerous fish bones showing signs of heat treatment. These remains have been dated to 780,000 years ago.
In addition to archaeological evidence, biological indicators show that the time humans began consuming cooked food corresponds to significant evolutionary changes in the body.
Humans are unique among all species on Earth in that our bodies have adapted to eating cooked food. For instance, in a study on raw food eaters, researchers found that these individuals tended to lose weight, and one-third of the participating women experienced a cessation of menstruation.
Cooking began approximately 1.9 million years ago. (Illustration: AI).
So the question arises, when did humans start using fire? The answer may be before the emergence of modern humans. Upright humans were the first species with fewer primate-like characteristics and more traits akin to modern humans. Some of these traits suggest that upright humans may have been the first to learn to cook food.
A fundamental difference between humans and our primate relatives is the size of the intestines. Since cooked food requires less digestive effort, our intestines are smaller than those of other primates, and our stomachs are also smaller, which results in flatter bellies, particularly after eating, unlike those of other species.
To accommodate larger intestines, non-human primates have wide pelvises and expanded rib cages. Our human ancestors lost these features around 2 million years ago.
Another biological characteristic is the evolution of chewing jaws in humans. The jaws of humans are not as large as those of other primate species. This aligns with the observation that a sudden dietary change occurred, specifically that food became easier to chew due to its increased softness.
This change occurred about 1.8 million years ago, which coincides with the timeline of skeletal evolution.
In summary, the narrative here is that cooking began approximately 1.9 million years ago among the species most similar to us in the evolutionary process, namely upright humans.
Scientists believe that the ability to eat cooked food and control fire is the driving force behind the significant evolution of upright humans.
However, without evidence of controlled fire, meaning the ability to ignite fire rather than merely utilizing flames from wildfires, the assertion that upright humans were the first to cook remains a topic of debate.
Professor Linscott stated, “Researchers continue to explore this issue, and I believe they will be investigating it for a long time to come. I don’t know if they will ever be able to determine the exact timeline.”
