"We think humans brought pyrite to the site with the intention of making fire. And this has huge implications, pushing back the earliest fire-making," said archaeologist Nick Ashton. Scientists have ...

Scientists have discovered the oldest-known evidence of fire-making by prehistoric humans in the English county of Suffolk.

Neanderthals 400,000 years ago were striking flints to make fires, researchers have found. Neanderthals 400,000 years ago were striking flints to make fires, researchers have found. An artist’s ...

Archaeologists working in eastern England say they have uncovered the earliest known evidence of humans deliberately making fire, pushing the origin of this technology back to roughly 400,000 years ...

Fragments of iron pyrite, a rock that can be used with flint to make sparks, were found by a 400,000-year-old hearth in eastern Britain. (Jordan Mansfield | Courtesy Pathways to Ancient Britain ...

A team of researchers led by the British Museum has unearthed the oldest known evidence of fire-making, dating back more than 400,000 years, in a field in Suffolk. The discovery shows humans were ...

The controlled use of fire was a key part of the development of human technology with a range of uses that greatly expanded human cultural evolution. Although evidence at a number of archaeological ...

Scientists have discovered the oldest-known evidence of fire-making by prehistoric humans in the English county of Suffolk, a hearth apparently made by Neanderthals about 415,000 years ago, revealing ...

An artist's impression shows sparks from flint and pyrite, in this image released on December 10, 2025. Craig Williams, The Trustees of the British Museum/Handout via REUTERS THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN ...