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Cultural Innovations

Uses of Fire by Early Humans

The discovery of fire came to provide a wide variety of uses for early hominids.  It acted as a source of warmth, making it easier to get through cold nighttime temperatures and allowing hominids to survive in colder environments, through which geographic expansion from tropical and subtropical climates to areas of temperate climates containing colder winters began to occur.  The use of fire continued to aid hominids at night by also acting as a means by which to ward off predatory animals.  This allowed hominids to sleep on the ground and in caves instead of trees and led to more time being spent on the ground.  This may have contributed to the evolution of bipedalism as such an ability became increasingly necessary for human activity.  Fire also played a huge role in changing how hominids obtained and consumed food, primarily in the new practice of cooking.  This caused for a significant increase in hominid meat consumption and calorie intake.  In addition to cooking, hominids soon discovered that meat could be dried through the use of fire, allowing it to be preserved for times in which harsh environmental conditions made hunting difficult.  Fire was even used in forming tools to be used for hunting and cutting meat.  Hominids found that large fires had their uses as well.  By starting wildfires, they were able to increase land fertility and clear large amounts of bushes and trees to make hunting easier.  As early hominids began to understand how to use fire, such a useful skill became a source of social power.  Those who learned this ability became viewed as superior, causing others to form groups around them and grant them higher societal positions.  This encouraged the formation of societies as well as increased interaction and speaking, which may have led to the development of human language.  Fire even became a part of the formation of the patriarchy, as it soon became accepted that men would hunt, while women would cook.

Protection and Hunting

Fanciful restoration of a Columbian mammoth hunted by Palaeoamericans

The early discovery of fire had numerous benefits to the early hominids. With fire, they were able to protect themselves from the terrain, and were also able to devise an entirely new way of hunting. Evidence of fire has been found in caves, suggesting that fire was used to keep the early hominids warm. This is significant, because it allowed them to migrate to cooler climates and thrive. This evidence also suggests that fire was used to clear out caves prior to living in them, a luxury that was available only after the discovery of fire . Living in caves was a major advancement in protection from the weather and from other species.

In addition to protection from the weather, the discovery of fire allowed for innovations in hunting. Initially, early hominids used grass fires to hunt and control the population of pests in the surrounding areas . Evidence shows that early hominids were able to corral and trap animals by means of fire and proceed to cook the meat. Cooked meat was a large step in protection, because the early hominids were no longer exposed to the various bacteria they digested when consuming raw meat.

Tool and Weapon Making

In addition to the many life-affirming benefits that fire provided to early humans, it also had a major impact on the innovation of tool and weapon manufacturing. The use of fire by early humans as an engineering tool to modify the effectiveness of their weaponry was a major technological advancement. In an archeological dig that dates to approximately 400,000 years ago, researchers excavating in an area known as the ‘Spear Horizon’ in Schöningen, county Helmstedt, Germany, unearthed eight wooden spears among a trove of preserved artifacts .  The spears were found along with stone tools and horse remains, one of which still had a spear through its pelvis. At another dig site located in Lehringen, Germany, a fire-hardened spear was found thrust into the rib cage of a ‘straight-tusked elephant’ . These archeological digs provide evidence that suggests the spears were deliberately fire-hardened, which allowed early humans the ability to modify their hunting tactics and use the spears as thrusting rather than throwing weapons.  Researchers further uncovered environmental evidence that indicated early humans may have been waiting in nearby vegetation that provided enough concealment for them to ambush their prey.

Spear #7 of the recovered Schöningen Spears

More recent evidence dating to approximately 164,00 years ago found that early humans living in South Africa in the Middle Stone Age used fire as an engineering tool to alter the mechanical properties of the materials they used to make tools and improve their lives. Researchers found evidence that suggests early humans applied a method of heat treatment to a fine-grained, local rock called Silcrete.  Once treated, the heated rocks were modified and tempered into crescent shaped blades or arrowheads.  The evidence suggests that early humans probably used the modified tools for hunting or cutting meat from killed animals.  Researchers postulate that this may have been the first time that the bow and arrow was used for hunting, an advancement that had a significant impact on how early humans may have lived, hunted, and existed as community groups.

Art and Ceremonial Uses

Fire was also used in the creation of art. Scientists have discovered several small, 1 to 10 inch statues in Europe referred to as the Venus Figurines. These statues date back to the Paleolithic Period and all depict nude, curvaceous women. Several of these figures were created from stone and ivory, while some were created with clay and then fired. These are some of the earliest examples of ceramics.  Fire was also commonly used to create pottery. Although it was previously thought that the advent of pottery began with the use of agriculture around 10,000 years ago, scientists in China discovered pottery fragments in the Xianrendong Cave that were dated back to 18,000 BCE. However it was during the Neolithic Age, which began in 8,000 BCE, that the creation and use of pottery became far more widespread. These items were often carved and painted with simple linear designs and geometric shapes.

Developments and Expansion in Early Hominid Societies

Fire was an important factor in expanding and developing societies of early hominids. One impact fire had was that it caused social stratification. Those who could make and wield fire had more power than those who could not and had a higher position in society. The presence of fire also led to an increase in length of “daytime”, and allowed more activity to occur in the night that was not previously possible. Evidence of large hearths indicate that the majority of this nighttime activity was spent around the fire, contributing to social interactions among individuals. This increased amount of social interaction is believed to be important in the development of language, as it fostered more communication among individuals. Another effect that the presence of fire had on hominid societies is that it required larger and larger groups to work together in order to maintain and sustain the fire. Individuals had to work together to find fuel for the fire, maintain the fire, and complete other necessary tasks. These larger groups also might have included older individuals, grandparents, to help care for children. Ultimately, fire had a significant influence on the size and social interactions of early hominid communities.