We use fire: Earliest blacksmith tools found in Africa

William Atkins
Monday, 17 August 2009 01:31

Science - Biology

According to a group of archaeologists who discovered a group of tools and weapons in South Africa, early humans used fire at least 72,000 years ago—over 50,000 years earlier than previously thought—to modify silcrete in order to more easily create tools.


Kyle S. Brown, who is an archaeologist at the Department of Archaeology, University of Cape Town, in the Republic of South Africa, lead this archaeological study.

Dr. Brown stated, "These people were extremely intelligent. These [ancient peoples] are not the image of the classic cavemen, of brutish people that are stumbling around the landscape and, in spite of themselves, surviving. These are the people that [may have] even colonized the rest of the world.” [National Geographic News (August 13, 2009): “Ancient Weapons Point to First Use of Fire for Tools?”]

Earlier estimates by scientists put the first tools manipulated with fire at about 25,000 years ago. However, this new discovery moves back this data to about 72,000 years ago.

In fact, the scientists add that the ability to manipulate and mold tools with fire could have been first learned as far back as 164,000 years ago.

This international group of scientists found the discovery inside a series of rocky caves along the coast of South Africa.

These ancient tools, located in caves at Pinnacle Point, which is near Mossel Bay, South Africa, show that these ancient humans learned to heat silcrete in order to make it easier to flake it off and, thus, make it easier to shape blades, knives, and other tools.

Silcrete, a very hard substance (similar to flint) that was often used for ancient tools, is formed when silica is dissolved and then re-solidifies as a cement-like substance.

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