Man made fire 350,000 years earlier than previously thought, discovery in Suffolk suggests

Groundbreaking find makes compelling case that humans were lighting fires much earlier than originally believed

Humans mastered the art of creating fire 400,000 years ago, almost 350,000 years earlier than previously known, according to a groundbreaking discovery in a field in Suffolk.

It is known that humans used natural fire more than 1m years ago, but until now the earliest unambiguous example of humans lighting fires came from a site in northern France dating from 50,000 years ago.

The latest evidence, which includes a patch of scorched earth and fire-cracked hand axes, makes a compelling case that humans were creating fire far earlier, at a time when brain size was approaching the modern human range and some species were expanding into harsher northern climates, including Britain.

“The implications are enormous,” said Dr Rob Davis, a Palaeolithic archaeologist at the British Museum, who co-led the investigation. “The ability to create and control fire is one of the most important turning points in human history with practical and social benefits that changed human evolution.”