I've gathered a sampling of online reports of this fascinating story.
For reasons of copyright, I'm posting just brief excerpts here. To
read the complete article, please click the link under each excerpt.
"May 4, 2004
Israeli researchers have discovered what could be the oldest-known
remnants from fires made by humans, suggesting mankind controlled fire
nearly 790,000 years ago. In a study published in the April 30
Science, Naama Goren-Inbar of Hebrew University and colleagues report
analyzing burned seeds, wood, and flint found at Gesher Benot Ya'aqov,
an archeological site in Israel."
Boston Globe: Earliest evidence of fire use found
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/health_science/articles/2004/05/04/earliest_evidence_of_fire_use_found/
"April 30, 2004
Today, the prevalence of matches and pocket lighters makes starting a
fire a simple task. Determining just when humans first gained control
over fire, however, is far from easy. New findings published today in
the journal Science add further insight to the discussion. According
to the report, evidence uncovered in Israel indicates that ancient
humans could control fire nearly 800,000 years ago.
Naama Goren-Inbar of Hebrew University and her colleagues discovered
burned fragments of flint, wood, fruit and grains at the Gesher Benot
Ya?aqov bridge site in Israel?s Hula Valley, which dates to 790,000
years ago."
Scientific American: Scorched Remains Suggest Ancient Humans Were Firestarters
http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?chanID=sa003&articleID=000D2206-857A-1091-857A83414B7F0000
"April 29, 2004
More than three-quarters of a million years ago, early humans gathered
around a campfire near an ancient lake in what is now Israel, making
tools and perhaps cooking food, in the earliest evidence yet found of
the use of fire in Europe or Asia.
Researchers have found evidence that these early people hunted and
processed meat and used fire at a site called Gesher Benot Ya?aqov in
the northern Dead Sea valley."
MSNBC: Scientists trace ancient signs of fire?s use
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/4863378/
"4/29/2004
People have been playing with fire for a long time - about 790,000
years, researchers report.Long a matter of myth, and more recently
scholarly debate, the taming of fire is a hallmark in human history.
But previous archaeological digs had turned up evidence only of
prehistoric fire pits used by humans about 250,000 years ago.
Now, archaeologists led by Naama Goren-Inbar of Hebrew University in
Jerusalem report finding evidence of much older human hearths,
revealed in burnt wood, fruits, seeds and flint tools.
Reported in today's edition of the journal Science, the discoveries
were made on the shore of an ancient lake at Gesher Benot Ya'aquov in
Israel. More than 50,000 waterlogged, burnt remains were excavated
over seven years."
USA Today: Quest for fire began very early, site shows
http://www.usatoday.com/news/science/2004-04-29-fire-usat_x.htm
My Google search strategy:
Google News Search: "fire users"
http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&edition=us&ie=UTF-8&q=%22fire-users
Google News Search: "naama goren-inbar"
http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&edition=us&ie=ascii&q=%22naama+goren-inbar
Google Web Search: "naama goren-inbar" + "fire"
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=%22naama+goren-inbar%22+fire
I hope this is exactly the information you were seeking. If it is not,
or if anything is unclear, please request clarification; I'll gladly
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Best regards,
pinkfreud |
