Charred fish… 780,000 years ago

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The world’s oldest evidence of fire cooking has been found in Israel

The world’s oldest evidence of the controlled use of fire to cook food, specifically fish, dating back 780,000 years ago – about 600,000 years older than previously found – Israeli and other scientists say they discovered in northern Israel near a riverbank Jordanin an area that was once a lake.

It is a large freshwater fish, carp or bream, at least two meters long.

The earliest certain evidence of fire cooking to date dates back to about 170,000 years ago.

Researchers from three Israeli universities (Hebrew Jerusalem, Bar-Ilan, Tel Aviv), in collaboration with scientists from the Natural History Museum in London and the German Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz, led by archaeologist Irit Zohar, made the relevant publication in the journal for “Nature Ecology & Evolution” issues. The discovery of the find – which, however, involves a degree of doubt – took place in the archaeological site of Gesher Benot Yaakov.

The question of when our ancestors began using fire to cook has been a matter of intense scientific debate and controversy for at least a century.

The new study highlights, according to the researchers, “the enormous importance of fish in the lives of prehistoric people for their diet and economic stability.”

The researchers analyzed fish teeth found in large quantities in nearby ancient Lake Hula. By studying the structure of the crystals in the tooth enamel, they concluded that the teeth had been exposed to temperatures of 200 to 500 degrees Celsius suitable for a good roast (the exact method of cooking remains unknown), rather than an accidental fire. The people then living in the area were probably Homo erectus.

The transition from raw to cooked food was a pivotal point in human evolution and behavior. Cooking reduces the necessary energy consumption that allows food to be broken down and digested, thereby freeing up energy for other activities, including the brain’s mental functions.

Some scientists consider cooking, especially fish, a “quantum” leap in human cognitive development, the key catalyst for the evolution of our ancestors’ brains. Some go so far as to claim that eating fish is what made us human. Even today, fish components such as omega-3 fatty acids, zinc and iodine are thought to contribute to brain development.

Researchers also estimate that the fishing and cooking of shallow freshwater fish in areas of the Middle East greatly aided the mass “exodus” of our ancestors from Africa. Our ancestors are thought to have caught the first fish about two million years ago, and they brought fire under control 1.7 million years ago.

But exactly when they started roasting them on fire remains an open question, as it is difficult to prove that an ancient fire was lit for cooking and not just for warming people. Even finding burnt remains of animals on a hearth does not necessarily mean that they were cooked, because our ancestors may have simply eaten them raw by the fire and then thrown the leftover food into the coals.

RES-EMP

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