Introduction

Abstract

The manipulation of fire was clearly a turning point for our ancient ancestors. Their ability to “domesticate” this powerful tool, lacking in any other creature, has provided us with the valuable gift of fire, whose possession has remained exclusively human ever since. As fire conferred varied advantages for early man, providing warmth and light, protection from predators, and the ability to exploit a new range of foods, the issue of human mastery of the use of fire has occupied numerous archaeological and anthropological studies (e.g., Harrison 1954; Oakley 1956; Stewart 1956; Perlès 1977; Clark and Harris 1985; Goudsblom 1986; James 1989; Olive and Taborin 1989; Wrangham et al. 1999; Villa 2001), while the question ofwhenhumans obtained and controlled fire has remained obscure.