Israeli Scientists Uncover 800,000-Year-Old Evidence of Fire Use

Israeli researchers using artificial intelligence (AI) have found traces of fire use dating back at least 800,000 years, the Weizmann Institute of Science (WIS) in Rehovot revealed on Monday. The discovery is one of the earliest pieces of evidence for the use of fire by ancient hominins, the institute said. The evidence, published Monday in the journal PNAS, was found at Evron Quarry, an open-air archaeological site located in the western Galilee region in northern Israel. Previous excavations at the site uncovered a large array of animal fossils and Paleolithic tools dating back to between 800,000 and 1 million years ago. Using an accurate AI method, the team assessed the heat exposure of 26 flint tools found at the site and found that the tools had been heated to a wide range of temperatures, some exceeding 600 degrees Celsius. They also analyzed 87 faunal remains by using a different spectroscopic technique and discovered that the tusk of an extinct elephant had structural alterations as a result of heating.