Latest news with #UniversityofAlgarve
Yahoo
29-04-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Ice Age Humans Were Skilled Firebenders, Scientists Find
Hominids have been using fire for at least a million years — but scientists have found that human fire-wielding skills during our planet's last great Ice Age became so advanced that they would have made Bobby Flay proud. A group of archaeologists from across Europe has found, per a new study in the journal Geoarchaeology, that tens of thousands of years ago, Homo sapiens — better known as modern humans — figured out how to make fires that burned up to 600 degrees Celsius, or more than 1,100 degrees Fahrenheit. Led by researchers from Austria's University of Vienna and Portugal's University of Algarve, the scientists identified three hearths in modern-day Ukraine from the coldest portion of the last Ice Age, between 26,500 and 19,000 years ago. As a press release from the University of Vienna explains, the researchers were surprised to find that the simple fireplaces didn't just burn wood, but also had remnants of bone and animals fats in them — both of which could have helped them burn hotter and brighter. While it's unclear whether the addition of animal remains was intentional or occurred when the hunter-gatherers who used those hearths were cooking, it's still a fascinating find — especially because there's a striking lack of evidence of human fire mastery from that time period. "We know that fire was widespread before and after this period, but there is little evidence from the height of the Ice Age," explained William Murphree, a geoarchaeologist at the University of Algarve who was the lead author on the paper. The three fireplaces were all, as the press release notes, open and flat — but one was larger and thicker, suggesting that it may have been used to achieve higher temperatures. According to University of Vienna researcher and co-lead author Philip Nigst, the differences in size and thickness denote a surprising sophistication. "People perfectly controlled the fire and knew how to use it in different ways, depending on the purpose of the fire," Nigst said in the university statement. "But our results also show that these hunter-gatherers used the same place at different times of the year during their annual migrations." While the findings from these three Ice Age hearths are indeed fascinating, they also pose more questions. "Did people not find enough fuel during the [Ice Age]?" Nigst pondered. "Did they not use fire, but instead relied on other technological solutions?" And perhaps most importantly: what happened to the other fireplaces in that era? Were they, as Murphree posited, destroyed by the ravages of the Ice Age, or did something else happen to them? For now, it's all conjecture — but knowing our ancestors were apparently grilling down during the Ice Age? Heck, relatable. More on ancient humans: The Biggest Technological Development in Human History Happened All Across the World Around the Same Time, by Groups of People With Zero Contact With One Another
Yahoo
26-04-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Ice Age Humans Were Experts at Wielding Fire, Study Finds
Learning to control fire was a game-changer for ancient humans, who could use it to cook food, see at night, and endure cold weather, among other things. This skill dates back at least a million years, and while fire has proven pivotal throughout human history, it can be especially valuable at certain times. The Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), for example, was the iciest part of the most recent glacial period in Earth's current ice age – and presumably a great time to cozy up by a fire. Yet despite the era's extreme cold, there is scant evidence of humans using fire during the LGM, which lasted from about 26,500 to 19,000 years ago. In a new study, researchers sought answers to this mystery by analyzing the remains of three ancient fireplaces found at an archaeological site in modern-day Ukraine, all of which are associated with human occupations at the site during the LGM. These hearths reveal new details about pyrotechnology in the late Upper Paleolithic – a span of several frigid millennia when fireplaces seem inexplicably rare in the archaeological record. "We know that fire was widespread before and after this period, but there is little evidence from the height of the Ice Age," says co-author William Murphree, a geoarchaeologist at the University of Algarve in Portugal. Previous research suggests fire loomed large in the lives of Upper Paleolithic people, enabling vital activities that would be difficult or impossible without it. "Fire was not just about keeping warm; it was also essential for cooking, making tools, and for social gatherings," says co-author Philip Nigst, an archaeologist at the University of Vienna in Austria. The LGM brought "rapid climatic deterioration" to Europe, the researchers note, with extremely cold, arid conditions that led to habitat loss and geographic isolation. In that context, it seems unlikely people would choose to build fewer fires. Maybe the cold hindered tree growth in steppes and grasslands, limiting the supply of firewood. Or maybe people built as many fires as ever, but harsh conditions during and after the LGM destroyed most of the evidence. This prehistoric trend may also be an illusion, reflecting a modern publication bias more than an actual decline. Given this uncertainty, the discovery of multiple hearths from the LGM could be revelatory. In addition to insights about ancient fire traditions, it might offer clues about the apparent dearth of hearths from this era. Researchers investigated three hearths previously uncovered at Korman' 9, a site on the Dniester River in Ukraine. They analyzed each with a series of geoarchaeological techniques, seeking long-lost details about fires built tens of thousands of years ago. Using microstratigraphic, micromorphological, and colorimetric analyses, they found the remains came from flat, open fireplaces, and that people mostly burned wood in them. Despite their simplicity, these fires could have heated the ground to 600 degrees Celsius, which could indicate a fire burning well over that temperature, suggesting impressive pyrotechnic sophistication, especially amid such climatic upheaval. The lack of big charcoal fragments made it hard to identify the main fuel source, but analysis of available charcoal revealed a predominance of spruce wood. The hearths also contained traces of bone, but it's unclear why, explains co-author Marjolein Bosch, a zooarchaeologist at the University of Vienna, the Austrian Academy of Sciences, and the Natural History Museum Vienna. "Some of the animal bones found at the site were burnt in a fire with a temperature of over 650 degrees Celsius. We are currently investigating whether they were used as fuel or just accidentally burned," Bosch says. Differences among the three hearths could point to separate occupations of the site, possibly weeks or centuries apart, or these could be specialized hearths used by people within one occupation for various purposes or seasons. "People perfectly controlled the fire and knew how to use it in different ways, depending on the purpose of the fire," Nigst says. "But our results also show that these hunter-gatherers used the same place at different times of the year during their annual migrations." While at least some people apparently retained their pyrotechnic skills during the LGM, more research is still needed to explain why we find so few hearths like these at contemporary sites. "Was most of the evidence destroyed by the ice-age-typical, alternating freezing and thawing of the soil?" Murphree says. "Or did people not find enough fuel during the Last Glacial Maximum?" Nigst adds. "Did they not use fire, but instead relied on other technological solutions?" The study was published in Geoarchaeology. Why Aren't Humans as Hairy as Other Mammals? Here's The Science. Ancient Body Paint May Have Been Prehistoric Sunscreen, Study Says Scientists Discover First Probable Evidence of a Roman Fighter Mauled by a Lion
Yahoo
14-04-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Ice age humans built sophisticated fireplaces
To make it out of the last ice age alive, our ancestors needed a special set of skills. One of which was harnessing the power of fire. However, not many well-preserved fireplaces dating back to the coldest part of the ice age (between 26,500 and 19,000 years ago) remain in Europe. Evidence from a prehistoric site at the shore of the Dnister river in modern-day Ukraine shows that people living during the most recent ice age built different types of hearths. Wood served as their primary source of fuel, but they may have used fat and bones as well. The findings were published April 1 in the journal Geoarchaeology. Archaeologists believe that Homo sapiens in Europe during the Upper Paleolithic period (between 45,000 and 10,000 years ago) used fire in several different ways. 'Fire was not just about keeping warm; it was also essential for cooking, making tools and for social gatherings,' Philip R. Nigst, a study co-author and archaeologist at the University of Vienna in Austria, said in a statement. [ Related: Ancient rocks tie Roman Empire's collapse to a mini ice age. ] Fire was likely a key part of survival for ice age hunter-gatherers in what is now Europe. Yet a lack of evidence from the coldest part of the ice age has prevented scientists from saying how. 'We know that fire was widespread before and after this period, but there is little evidence from the height of the Ice Age,' William Murphree, a study co-author and geoarchaeologist at the University of Algarve in Portugal, said in a statement. In the new study, the team analyzed three hearths unearthed at a prehistoric site in Ukraine. Through microstratigraphic analysis, micromorphology and colorimetric analysis, the scientists identified three simple, flat, wood-fired hearths. Interestingly, the analysis shows that one of these fires reached over 1,112 degrees Fahrenheit (600 degrees Celsius). According to the team, this proves that whoever made these fires had a more sophisticated mastery of pyrotechnics, despite the harsh environments they lived in. Humans used wood as their main fuel source during the peak of the ice age. The charcoal analysis indicates that it was specifically spruce wood. However, animal bones or fat may have also been used to keep fires burning. 'Some of the animal bones found at the site were burnt in a fire with a temperature of over 650 degrees Celsius [1,202 degrees Fahrenheit]. We are currently investigating whether they were used as fuel or just accidentally burned,' study co-author and University of Vienna zooarcheologist Marjolein D. Bosch said in a statement. [ Related: Ice Age hunter-gatherers may have had cheek piercings, even as children. ] All three fireplaces are open and flat. The team's analysis suggests that their use of fire was sophisticated, because the fireplaces were likely to have been constructed and used differently depending on the season. One fireplace is larger and thicker, suggesting that it could reach higher temperatures. 'People perfectly controlled the fire and knew how to use it in different ways, depending on the purpose of the fire. But our results also show that these hunter-gatherers used the same place at different times of the year during their annual migrations,' said Nigst. Even with these new findings, numerous questions remain, particularly about why there is such scant evidence of fireplaces dating back to the last ice age. 'Was most of the evidence destroyed by the ice-age-typical, alternating freezing and thawing of the soil?' asks Murphree. 'Or did people not find enough fuel during the Last Glacial Maximum? Did they not use fire, but instead relied on other technological solutions?' adds Nigst. The team hopes that understanding more about the role fire plays in human evolution will reveal how it helped our species become dominant.
