Limits RegistryPUBLIC RECORD
Limits RegistryBurned bone and ashed plant remains found alongside Acheulean stone tools deep inside Wonderwerk Cave in South Africa's Northern Cape date to about 1 million years ago. The 2012 PNAS study by Francesco Berna and colleagues is widely cited as the oldest secure in-situ evidence of controlled fire, though older claims from open-air sites in East Africa exist.
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Burned bone and ashed plant remains found alongside Acheulean stone tools deep inside Wonderwerk Cave in South Africa's Northern Cape date to about 1 million years ago. The 2012 PNAS study by Francesco Berna and colleagues is widely cited as the oldest secure in-situ evidence of controlled fire, though older claims from open-air sites in East Africa exist.
The age of the oldest archaeological evidence of fire used by hominins that is found in place, within a site, and associated with tools.
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1 accepted Claim, with 1 linked evidence records.
Permanent ID limitsregistry.com/limits/LR-OLDEST-EVIDENCE-OF-CONTROLLED-FIRE
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Limits Registry. LR-OLDEST-EVIDENCE-OF-CONTROLLED-FIRE. Oldest secure evidence of controlled fire use by hominins. 2026.