Humans made groundbreaking discovery 350,000 years earlier than previously thought, scientists say

WorldEnvironment
11 Dec 2025 • 10:02 AM MYT
The Independent
The Independent

The world’s most free-thinking newspaper

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Archaeologists have made a discovery that could challenge everything we know about human development.

Footage shows scientists examining an excavation site of a 400,000-year-old pond sediment in Barnham, Suffolk, where they say they found the remains of a campfire.

Previously, the earliest evidence of prehistoric humans making fire had been from 50,000 years ago in France. The findings now push back the earliest known date for controlled fire-making by approximately 350,000 years.

Archaeologist Nick Ashton, curator of Palaeolithic Collections at the British Museum in London, said his team believe that humans brought pyrite — a mineral that creates sparks when struck — to the site “with the intention of making fire”.