Archaeological Dig Reveals Early Use of Fire for Weapon Making
It is generally accepted that pyrotechnology or the manipulation of fire began in Europe around 25,000 years ago, however new evidence has come to light that may suggest it began in South Africa 50,000 years earlier.
A cache of weapons made from a stone called silcrete have been found with a glossy red colouring. This suggesting that the people discovered that heating the rock would transform it from a poor material for tool making, into an outstanding one as it would make it easier to flake allowing for more advanced blades and other tools to be made.
The findings were published in August 2009 and suggest that some of the 72,000 year old tools were mounted on handles and used to hunt, amongst other things, Cape buffalo and the tiny mole rat, made in to knives or into valuable items for exchange purposes.
Archaeologist Kyle Brown (top) shapes heat-treated stone into replicas of ancient weapons (bottom). Image source
According to archaeologist Kyle Brown of the University of Cape Town, the control of fire is of the utmost significance as it marks the point in our evolution when we became ‘uniquely human’. Brown claims that far from fitting the stereotypical image of the brutish, unintelligent caveman, these people demonstrated high levels of intelligence and may even have been responsible for colonizing the rest of the world.
The process would involve a series of stages; collecting firewood, building the fire, working the stone then fixing the handle with natural adhesives. This shows that they were capable of thinking ahead, a sure sign of high intelligence and sophisticated language abilities would also be needed to pass the knowledge on to the next generation.
However not all experts are convinced this find signifies the transition to modern human. Paleoanthropologist John Shea of Stony Brook University claims that before making these claims, you first have to prove that the many human species that preceded Homo Sapiens did not have the same knowledge.
At the time, the human population was recovering from a severe glacial period and going through an apparent burst of cultural growth. The site also yielded jewellery such as shell beads and ground up ochre that they used to paint themselves and their caves.
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9 Responses to “Archaeological Dig Reveals Early Use of Fire for Weapon Making”
On September 10, 2009 at 2:18 am
Interesting piece!
On September 10, 2009 at 9:28 am
This is one early proof that men are really intelligent. Nice piece
On September 10, 2009 at 4:08 pm
Great read, I love anything about archaeology.
On September 10, 2009 at 4:54 pm
Fire made us human but what did AC do to us?
On September 10, 2009 at 8:47 pm
Interesting,other research that leaves the old one obsolete.
On September 11, 2009 at 7:45 am
I wonder why it took us so long to get to the relatively modern point of just a few thousand years ago, then in such a relatively short time we’ve advanced to the point where we’re unrecognizably sophisticated in comparison.
On September 11, 2009 at 11:31 am
it’s always intriguing to know such things…I also wonder when would present day apes like gorillas or chimpanzees would start using fire…
On September 11, 2009 at 3:42 pm
Great piece. It’s really neat to think about how smart humans actually are compared to other species on our planet.
On October 9, 2009 at 4:23 am
Very good, cheers!
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