Cave to Cathedrals: The History of Making Fire

Cave to Cathedrals: The History of Making Fire

By Mr Ghaz, September 11, 2010

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Cave to Cathedrals: The History of Making Fire

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As early hominids began to move out of Africa and spread around the world, they found that some climates were too cold for them to live in. To survive there, they needed to make another important discovery: the use of fire. The first hominid to use fire was probably Homo erectus who was more intelligent than earlier species.

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Archaeologists have discovered evidence of fire at the Homo erectus site at Choukoutien in China. Ashes, charred bones and charcoal have been found in a large cave where people lived 300,000 to 400,000 years ago. The bones, mainly of deer, were probably the remains of meals that had been cooked over the fire.

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Turning a stick between the hands was one method of making fire, but the stick had to be pressed hard against a piece of wood at the same time. The bow drill was a more efficient method because it made the stick spin faster and caused more friction between the stick and hearth.

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People had watched fires started by natural causes such as lightning for many thousands of years before they first thought of making fire for themselves. People were probably terrified of fire at first, just as other animals were. As they got used to seeing fires, they realized that they would come to no harm if they took care. Fires gave off tremendous heat as they raged across the countryside, and they lit up the night sky. People began to see that fire’s light and heat could be useful. They discovered that they could light a bundle of twigs in a forest fire and carry the flaming twigs back to the cave or camp where more wood could be set alight to provide warmth and light. If the fire was kept stoked up with fuel, it would burn for as they wanted it.