Overview
- Researchers from the British Museum report a spatially limited hearth at Barnham, Suffolk, dated to roughly 400,000–415,000 years ago.
- Sediment analyses indicate the same spot was heated repeatedly to about 750°C, ruling out broad natural fires and supporting controlled use.
- Associated finds include heat-fractured flint handaxes and two small pyrite pieces, a rare local mineral the team infers was brought to strike sparks.
- The study pushes back the earliest clear evidence for deliberate ignition by about 350,000 years compared with a previously cited 50,000-year-old French site.
- Authorship and commentary note that the fire-makers are not definitively identified—likely early Neanderthals based on nearby fossils—and that proving intentional ignition remains challenging.