Fire in the Early Pleistocene: Evidence for the Use of Fire by Hominins at the 1.5 mya Site of FxJj20 AB, Koobi Fora, Kenya

Summary

The Cooking Hypothesis contends that fire use became common in the Early Pleistocene and was part of a suite of characters that were associated with the appearance of Homo erectus. The morphological changes associated with H. erectus support this hypothesis. Archaeological evidence for the control of fire in this time period is generally sparse, and arguments for controlled fire at early sites have been controversial. Here we present evidence for fire use by early hominins at the open-air site of FxJj20 AB, Koobi Fora, Kenya. Bone and sediment exhibiting FTIR signatures consistent with burning at high temperatures have been recovered from a single horizon. A magnetic anomaly has been identified close to a cluster of artifacts. Micromorphological analyses indicate site formation processes with relatively little post-depositional modification. This is further supported by fabric analysis. The site is one of the earliest known sites, to date, with evidence for an association of fire and human activity. This validates a methodology for investigating early fire by highlighting the importance of using techniques geared toward identifying and verifying combustion features in open air contexts. This research was supported by the U.S. National Science Foundation, OISE awards 1358178 and 1358200.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 83rd Annual Meeting, Washington, DC (2018)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 22386