Overview
- A Nature paper reports that the Barnham Paleolithic site in Suffolk preserves the earliest known direct evidence of intentional fire production.
- Heat-fractured flint tools, a baked clay lump, and two pyrite fragments indicate deliberate spark generation rather than a natural blaze.
- The presence of pyrite, a mineral uncommon in the area, suggests intentional procurement and transport by the site's occupants.
- Researchers spent more than four years excluding wildfire scenarios and attribute the behavior to very early Neanderthal groups.
- The discovery pushes direct evidence of fire manufacture back by about 350,000 years and highlights implications for cooking, cold-environment settlement, and social cohesion.