#making fire

"A team of researchers led by the British Museum has unearthed the oldest known evidence of fire making, dating back over 400,000 years, in a field in Suffolk. The discovery shows humans were making fire around 350,000 years earlier than previously known.

Sites in Africa suggest humans used natural fire over a million years ago, but the discovery at the Palaeolithic site in Barnham evidences the creation and control of fire, which carries huge implications for human development and evolution. Until now, the oldest known evidence of fire making was from 50,000 years ago, found in northern France.

The evidence, probably produced by some of the oldest Neanderthal groups, consists of a patch of heated clay, heat-shattered flint hand axes and two small pieces of iron pyrite. It has taken the team, led by Nick Ashton and Rob Davis at the British Museum, four years to demonstrate that the heated clay was not caused by wildfire. Geochemical tests show temperatures of over 700°C with repeated fire-use in the same location of the site – indicating a campfire, or hearth, that had been used by people on several occasions.

Iron pyrite is a naturally occurring mineral that can be used to strike flint, creating sparks to ignite tinder. Pyrite’s rarity in the local area suggests these early people had knowledge of its properties, where it could be sourced and brought it to the site to make fire.

The evidence sits alongside other indicators of complex behaviour in ancient humans, at a time when brain size approached modern levels.

Turning point in human history

Fire making enabled humans the freedom to choose their campsites, without needing to continually feed the fire, as it could be re-ignited when and where required.

This control of fire had practical benefits of protection and warmth, enabling humans to spread and thrive in colder and harsher environments. Importantly, it widened the range of foods that could be safely eaten by removing toxins from roots and tubers, or pathogens from meat through cooking. Tenderising these foods improved digestion, freeing up energy from the gut and fuelling the brain.

Being able to process a wider range of foods supported better survival and larger more complex social groups."

The easy way to light fires in the Middle Ages was to keep a fire going that was already burning.  When flame was needed elsewhere, flammable material could be use to transfer the flame to another location.  Most people tended to keep their fires going as long as they could. 

One of the most common methods of creating flame from scratch in the Middle Ages was through the use of natural flint, steel, and a material known as char cloth.   The steel was known as the striker, and the flint was simply called the flint.  These necessities were typically kept in a metal box. When traveling, men would carry their fire-starting tools in a small pouch deposited in the main purse tied at the waist, or in a separate pouch tied to their belt or cinch. 

Char cloth is the abbreviated from the full words charcoal cloth; it is highly flammable.  It was made by throwing a clean cloth (typically linen, cotton, or calico) into fire so that it would start burning.  Once flaming, the cloth would be removed from the fire and suffocated to put the flame out.  The charred edges were harvested from the material; the pieces would catch on fire with little difficulty.  The char cloth was the initial tinder that could catch fire and be transferred to a bundle of tow to stoke the flame until it was ready to be used to light wood bits and dried natural forage used as fuel to start a fire.  

To create the spark, the striker had to be brought down across the flint hard enough to sheer off tiny flakes of the metal.  The sparks from the percussion were captured on the char cloth, which would burn like coal embers, and then the char cloth was transferred to a packet of tow.  Once on the tow was lit, the burning material was blown by mouth into flame. The tow could then be used to light bigger tinder, typically the small bits of wood and flammable materials placed under a fire to get it going.