Overview
- Researchers from the Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales and the University of Toronto published a peer‑reviewed PLOS One study on Wednesday that reports burned micromammal and bone remains at Wonderwerk Cave dating between about 1.07 and 1.79 million years ago.
- The team developed a portable, low‑cost luminescence protocol that detects the glow of heat‑altered bone and distinguishes true burning from chemical changes, and they validated those results with infrared spectroscopy.
- Burned remains occur in multiple separated layers within stratum 11 and in some older areas reached 100% of examined fossils, which the authors interpret as repeated, opportunistic use of fire rather than a single accidental blaze.
- Authors hypothesize hominins likely transported burning material into the cave and used dense deposits of owl pellets and micromammal remains as localized fuel, but the study found no evidence that Homo erectus produced fire on demand or used it to cook food.
- If confirmed by independent tests and wider field application of the luminescence method, the finding would push back secure Homo‑associated fire use by hundreds of thousands of years and prompt new research into early hominin behavior, site formation, and fuel use.