Abstract:

The paper made an in-depth review on the history of academic research on hominin use of fire. It discussed the significance of fire-use to human evolution and development, presented different hypotheses on the origins of controlled use of fire by human ancestors, and used a series of case-studies to demonstrate the way fire-use evidences were collected and analyzed, and the complicated developmental process of fire-use in human history. Controlled use of fire is a unique behavior and capacity of human beings, and it has played an essential role on hominid survival and evolution. The use of fire led to cooked foods and made nutrition more easily be digested, which in turn brought about a series of biological adjustments and changes in demography, behavioral patterns, survival strategies and social structures to our species. Fire helped hominins procure more resources and modify physical properties of imperative materials, such as heat treatment on lithic raw materials, and gradually brought about the invention of pottery and metal utensils, and eventually human civilization. The history of human-fire interaction is a long and tortuous process, from the occasional use of natural fire, controlled use of fire on and off for hundreds of thousands of years, effective preservation of fire seeds, the making of fire and habitual use of fire, to the omnipresent, indispensable and complex ways of fire-use today. It has been proposed that hominid fire-use history began with the emergence of Homo erectus, but the current available reliable evidence pointed to the time node of ca. 1.5 MaBP. The detection and verification of fire-use evidence of early stage are difficult and challenging, requiring delicate and detailed field excavation and recording, high-resolution taphonomic and spatial information, and all applicable analyses with state-of-the-art technologies. Possible factors of natural agencies in producing fire remains, such as natural fire and post-depositional disturbance, have to be evaluated and terminated. Only after such careful data collection and comprehensive analysis, the evidence presented and conclusions reached can be convincing and accepted.

Key words: Controlled use of fire, The significance of fire-use, Fire-use history, Evidence for the use of fire, State-of-the-art analyses