Overview
- The Nature study led by the British Museum reports heated sediments reaching roughly 750°C confined to a single spot, unlike surrounding soils.
- Heat-altered flint tools and two centimeter-scale pyrite pieces were recovered, with pyrite scarce locally and interpreted as brought to the site for striking sparks.
- The assemblage is dated to about 400,000–415,000 years ago at Barnham in Suffolk, suggesting repeated creation and maintenance of fire by early hominins, likely Neandertals.
- The finding pushes the earliest clear evidence for intentional fire-making back by roughly 350,000 years from previous records in northern France.
- A Nature commentary judged the data strongly indicative, while the authors link reliable fire-making to wider behavioral shifts and note further scrutiny will follow.