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First Fire
Posted: Thu Jan 30, 2014 8:43 am
by uniface
Controlled by 300,000 BC
http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/11 ... ce-012814/
The poor Darwinian Cave Man meme is really getting hammered of late
Re: First Fire
Posted: Thu Jan 30, 2014 1:46 pm
by Minimalist
Um...
http://www.livescience.com/19425-earlie ... -fire.html
Ash and charred bone, the earliest known evidence of controlled use of fire, reveal that human ancestors may have used fire a million years ago, a discovery that researchers say will shed light on this major turning point in human evolution.
Scientists analyzed material from Wonderwerk Cave in South Africa, a massive cavern located near the edge of the Kalahari Desert. Previous excavations there had uncovered an extensive record of human occupation.
This was reported nearly 2 years ago.
Re: First Fire
Posted: Thu Jan 30, 2014 5:43 pm
by uniface
You didn't READ it.
earliest evidence of unequivocal, repeated fire-building over a continuous period
Not just the oldest charcoal in a cave.
To the extent that there's a meaningful difference . . .
Re: First Fire
Posted: Thu Jan 30, 2014 10:39 pm
by Minimalist
Semantics.
Previous excavations there had uncovered an extensive record of human occupation.
I suppose they might have lived there forever and only built a fire on the last day........
I wouldn't bet on it, though.
Re: First Fire
Posted: Fri Jan 31, 2014 12:55 am
by circumspice
Meme...
Word of the week?
Re: First Fire
Posted: Fri Jan 31, 2014 1:10 pm
by kbs2244
“ evidence of unequivocal, repeated fire-building over a continuous period”
I don’t see anything supporting that statement.
Does “repeated” mean the fire was let to burn completely out and then re-started on cold ashes?
The begs the question of;
re-started how?
Re: First Fire
Posted: Fri Jan 31, 2014 7:09 pm
by uniface
You wont get more out of anything that you put into it -- a lesson that 66 years have taught me, FWIW (if anything).
Repeated : Starting new fires. Here and there. Again and again, as wanted. As opposed to the unlikely but outside possibility of keeping a naturally started one going by feeding it for years. (The "They used fire, opportunistically, but couldn't make it" argument).