“We mastered fire with the invention of matches, silly!”
Earlier this month I mentioned that biological anthropologist Richard Wrangham estimates hominins tamed fire and started cooking with it 1.8 million years ago.
A recent article at Slate reviews the debate among anthropologists. Some respected authorities date our mastery of fire from 12,000 to 400,000 years ago.
I don’t know the answer, but I’d wager it was much earlier than 12,000 years ago.
—Steve
