Humans have been controlling fire for at least 300,000 years

Anthropologists estimate that humans first discovered fire about a million years ago. What we don't know, however, is when our ancestors first starting using it on a regular basis, for example, to cook meals. But the discovery of a 300,000 year-old hearth at an archaeological site near Tel Aviv sets the clock to at least that far back in time.

Humans have been controlling fire for at least 300,000 years The findings, now published in the Journal of Archaeological Science, show that the hearth was 6.5 feet in diameter at its widest point and used repeatedly over time. In addition to the hearth, the cave in which it was found contained a thick deposit of wood ash at its center. And using infrared spectroscopy, the archaeologists determined that bits of bone and soil that had been heated to very high temperatures were mixed in with the ash.

Further testing showed a great many micro-strata — a sign that the hearth wa...

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