May 24, 2023

Noa Essner

10th Grade

Ramaz Upper School

Over the course of human history, especially in the primitive years, mankind’s need to adapt to their surroundings has been a vital component of their survival. This adaptation has entailed learning to hunt for food, finding some form of shelter, and most especially, making fires. The exploration of this topic began in the Qesem Cave in Israel, where scientists suggest, based on ancient wood samples, that Neanderthals first started learning to make fires. Subsequent to this discovery, scientists have and continue to rely on analyzing the remains of bones and charcoal to trace the continued usage of fire. This has led scientists to conclude that as humans have evolved, ensuring their survival has not been the only use of fire. Science indicates that fire has played a critical role in actual human development from the early homosapien, a near-distant ancestor of apes, to the more complex species of humans that we are today.

The human use of fire is estimated to have begun roughly two million years ago. As early humans lived in caves and engaged in a lifestyle primarily gathering their food to survive, they also made use of fire as a means of self-defense. The fire would scare away predators, keeping humans safe, and would simultaneously serve as a source of heat amidst cold temperatures. As humans began to utilize fire more regularly, it expanded its role in their daily lives. It eventually enabled them to begin hunting animals and cooking them on fire before eating them. This shift signified the expansion of the human diet from gathering plants to include hunting animals as well, marking the beginning of the hunter-gatherer stage of human evolution. 

Scientists have studied the caves in which these early homo sapiens lived, as well as other related sites with archaeological significance. They concluded that as early humans adopted a hunter-gatherer lifestyle, it simultaneously increased their everyday calorie intake. Scientists are compelled to believe these calories resulted in an evolutionary enlargement of the human brain, as well as the shrinking of human teeth and stomachs. To expand on the former, as primitive humans learned to use the resources at their disposal to their benefit, they began to develop into a more advanced species. For example, from this increased caloric intake, humans began to develop their ability to communicate, the first-ever “spoken languages.” From a psychological perspective, the adaptation and evolution influenced by fire now have a term known as “social focus.” It is theorized that had it not been for the fire, humans would never have developed the psychological and physiological characteristics that led to their evolving into the modern humans we are today. 

Progressing roughly 7000 years ago, human usage of fire became such a commonplace practice that it became one of the few precious tools at their disposal for survival and evolution. As the Earth and its inhabitants continued to evolve, so did the uses of fire. For example, fire started to become a vital weapon during combat. In addition, fires also became helpful in terms of agriculture. Humans around this time started adopting the process of using controlled fires to burn certain areas of land, which would ultimately benefit and fertilize the soil, which would in turn grow better crops. 

Even in 2022, no single person or species has complete control over fire, as it’s a natural element influenced primarily by climate and external conditions. Nonetheless, early homosapiens depended on fire. In capitalizing on it as a resource, they thus ensured their continued survival and hence evolutionary development. Though scientists most often rely on remnants of charcoal or old caves to learn about how early humans lived and made use of fire, today, new methods of learning about this significant element of scientific history are being tested, such as using artificial intelligence to discern flint that in the past has been burnt (and even indicate the temperature at which it was burned) as opposed to flint that hasn’t. There is no definitive proof, but science even suggests that using fires expanded the span of the average human life. Given the crucial role fires have played in humans’ surviving harsh climates, scaring off enemies and predators, evolving into a more sophisticated species, and shifting their diet, this theory is a real possibility.