400,000-Year-Old Barnham Hearth: Earliest Evidence of Human-Made Fire

• Scientists identified the earliest evidence of human-made fire in a 400,000-year-old hearth found in Barnham, England.
• This discovery pushes back the timeline of controlled fire-making by approximately 350,000 years.
• Evidence suggests repeated, intentional fire-starting, including magnetic properties, chemical analyses, and flint/pyrite fragments.
• The hearth was likely made by Neanderthals and indicates a complex culture with social rules and shared labor.
• Mastering fire-making on demand was crucial for human evolution, enabling cooking, larger brains, and social development.

Why It Matters: Barnham find pushes back human-made fire's timeline, crucial for human evolution.