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Image Credit: Marin-Monfort et al., PLOS One (2026)
New Evidence Pushes Early Fire Use at Wonderwerk Cave Further Back
A new archaeological study has provided fresh evidence for early hominin use of fire at Wonderwerk Cave in South Africa, one of the most important sites for understanding the deep history of fire use. The research identifies burnt small mammal bones in Early Pleistocene Acheulean deposits, suggesting that fire was introduced into the cave by hominins more than one million years ago.
Wonderwerk Cave, located in South Africa’s Northern Cape Province, preserves a long archaeological sequence covering nearly two million years of human occupation. Earlier research had already identified evidence of burning in Stratum 10, dated to around 1 million years ago, including burnt bone, stone, sediment, and ash. The new study confirms burning in this layer and adds evidence from the deeper Stratum 11, dated broadly between 1.79 and 1.07 million years ago.
To identify burning more clearly, the researchers introduced a rapid, non-invasive method based on bone luminescence. This technique uses specific light wavelengths to detect changes in burnt white and grey bones. The results were checked against Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy, a widely used method for identifying heat alteration in archaeological materials.
The study focused on small mammal bones, many of which were likely accumulated in the cave by owls. These remains are important because they were not food waste left by hominins, but part of the cave floor sediment. If such bones were burnt deep inside the cave, they can help reveal the presence and spread of fire in the occupation area.
The results showed strong agreement between luminescence and FTIR analysis. In Stratum 11, all 32 white and grey bones tested were identified as burnt by both methods. In Stratum 10, both methods also confirmed burning in a significant number of bones. The study also showed that the new luminescence method can help distinguish truly burnt bones from bones altered by fossilization processes.
Because the deposits were located deep inside the cave, at least about 30 metres from the entrance at the time, natural wildfire is unlikely to explain the burning. The researchers argue that the most likely explanation is that early hominins brought fire into the cave, probably from natural fires outside, and maintained it until it went out.
The study does not claim evidence for cooking at Wonderwerk Cave. Instead, it supports a picture of opportunistic fire use by early Acheulean hominins, most likely Homo erectus. Overall, the findings strengthen Wonderwerk Cave’s place as one of the key sites for studying the earliest stages of human engagement with fire.
Published on: 08-06-2026
Edited by: Abdulmnam Samakie
Source: PLOS One
