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