Evidence of Hominin Control of Fire at Gesher Benot Ya`aqov, Israel

@article{GorenInbar2004EvidenceOH,
  title={Evidence of Hominin Control of Fire at Gesher Benot Ya`aqov, Israel},
  author={Naama Goren-Inbar and Nira Alperson and Mordechai E. Kislev and Orit Simchoni and Yoel Melamed and Adi Ben-Nun and Ella Werker},
  journal={Science},
  year={2004},
  volume={304},
  pages={725 - 727}
}
The presence of burned seeds, wood, and flint at the Acheulian site of Gesher Benot Ya`aqov in Israel is suggestive of the control of fire by humans nearly 790,000 years ago. The distribution of the site's small burned flint fragments suggests that burning occurred in specific spots, possibly indicating hearth locations. Wood of six taxa was burned at the site, at least three of which are edible—olive, wild barley, and wild grape. 
View on AAAS
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
439 Citations
Highly Influential Citations
31
Background Citations
135
Methods Citations
7
Results Citations
2

439 Citations

Continual fire-making by Hominins at Gesher Benot Ya‘aqov, Israel

A palynological study of the Acheulian site of Gesher Benot Ya’aqov, Israel

The results are discussed of the palynological (pollen-analytical) examination of a sediment section in the Hula Valley of northern Israel, with evidence of Acheulian occupation dated to…

Early evidence of fire in south-western Europe: the Acheulean site of Gruta da Aroeira (Torres Novas, Portugal)

A multi-analytic study of the by-products of burning recorded in layer X suggests the presence of anthropogenic fires at the site, among the oldest such evidence in south-western Europe.

Taphonomy of burnt bones from Wonderwerk Cave (South Africa)

Microstratigraphic evidence of in situ fire in the Acheulean strata of Wonderwerk Cave, Northern Cape province, South Africa

Micromorphological and Fourier transform infrared microspectroscopy analyses of intact sediments at the site of Wonderwerk Cave provide unambiguous evidence—in the form of burned bone and ashed plant remains—that burning took place in the cave during the early Acheulean occupation, approximately 1.0 Ma.

Spatial Organization of Hominin Activities at Gesher Benot Ya’aqov, Israel

The results of spatial analyses of a Middle Pleistocene Acheulian archaeological horizon at Gesher Benot Ya’aqov, Israel, indicate that hominins differentiated their activities (stone knapping, tool use, floral and faunal processing and consumption) across space.

The plant component of an Acheulian diet at Gesher Benot Ya‘aqov, Israel

The earliest known archive of food plants found in the superimposed Acheulian sites excavated at Gesher Benot Ya’aqov, Israel is reported on, shedding light on hominin abilities to adjust to new environments and exploit different flora, facilitating population diffusion, survival, and colonization beyond Africa.

The Acheulian Site of Gesher Benot Ya‘aqov

Gesher Benot Ya‘aqov (GBY) is located in the southern Hula Valley, which, in turn, is located in the northernmost segment of the Dead Sea Rift, part of the Great African Rift System. This region is…

On the Role of Fire in Neandertal Adaptations in Western Europe: Evidence from Pech de l'Azé and Roc de Marsal, France

Though the earliest evidence for the use of fire is a subject of debate, it is clear that by the late Middle Paleolithic, Neandertals in southwest France were able to use fire. The archaeological…

Evidence of Hominin Use and Maintenance of Fire at Zhoukoudian

Evidence for “controlled use of fire” by Homo erectus pekinensis at Zhoukoudian Locality 1 was initially discovered in the early 1930s and was widely accepted as the earliest such record in human…
...

References

SHOWING 1-10 OF 24 REFERENCES

Evidence for the use of fire at zhoukoudian, china

A reexamination of the evidence in Layer 10, the earliest archaeological horizon in the site, shows that burned and unburned bones are present in the same layer with stone tools, but no ash or charcoal remnants could be detected.

Pleistocene milestones on the out-of-Africa corridor at Gesher Benot Ya'aqov, israel.

The Acheulean site of Gesher Benot Ya'aqov in the Dead Sea Rift of Israel documents hominin movements and technological development on a corridor between Africa and Eurasia, considerably older than previous estimates.

Early archaeological sites, hominid remains and traces of fire from Chesowanja, Kenya

Recent investigations of Lower Pleistocene sites at Chesowanja have yielded in situ Oldowan and Oldowan-like stone artefacts, evidence of fire and a fragmentary ‘robust’ australopithecine cranium.…

Nuts, nut cracking, and pitted stones at Gesher Benot Ya‘aqov, Israel

The Acheulian site of Gesher Benot Ya’aqov (Israel) has revealed a unique association of edible nuts with pitted hammers and anvils similar in pit morphology to those used by chimpanzees and contemporary hunter–gatherers.

The Acheulian Site of Gesher Benot Ya’aqov, Israel I. The Wood Assemblage

Botanists, including those with an economic bent, and ecologists recognize the importance of palms for a multitude of reasons. As such, palms have been the focus of much research. Tomlinson (1990)…

The Structure and Morphotectonics of the Gesher Benot Ya'aqov Area, Northern Dead Sea Rift, Israel

  • S. Belitzky
  • Environmental Science, Geography
    Quaternary Research
  • 2002
Abstract Geological, geomorphological, and morphotectonic studies at the Gesher Benot Ya'aqov Acheulean site, Northern Jordan Valley, provide: 1) a unique opportunity to establish the ecological…

Lower Palaeolithic hunting spears from Germany

Some wooden throwing spears about 400,000 years old that were discovered in 1995 at the Pleistocene site at Schöningen, Germany are thought to be the oldest complete hunting weapons so far discovered to have been used by humans.

Fire and its roles in early hominid lifeways

Discovery of the uses and later the invention of fire-making are fundamental to humanity. Following reports over the last decade of traces of fire found on Lower Pleistocene archaeological sites in…

Hominid Use of Fire in the Lower and Middle Pleistocene: A Review of the Evidence [and Comments and Replies]

Examen critique des donnees de 30 sites du Pleistocene inferieur et moyen d'Afrique, Asie et Europe, concernant l'utilisation du feu chez les premiers hominides. Les donnees anterieures aux…

Differential Burning, Recrystallization, and Fragmentation of Archaeological Bone

Abstract This paper presents research on the conditions under which progressive levels of burning may occur to archaeological bone, and how burning damage changes bones' crystal structure and…