Archaeologists Claim Homo Naledi Used Fire to Cook, Navigate Dark Caves

Expedition lead and University of the Witwatersrand professor Lee Berger shared his team’s discovery at a Carnegie Science talk last week. Berger claims he and a fellow archaeologist were exploring Rising Star, a secluded underground labyrinth, earlier this year when he noticed the “roof” of a cave was charred. Some rocks seemed to be covered in soot. Berger’s colleague, Dr. Keneiloe Molopyane, proceeded to locate a pile of charred antelope bones within what appeared to be a hearth.

Rising Star is known for its association with Homo naledi, a primitive human believed to have lived in the labyrinth’s many caves 230,000 to 330,000 years ago. H. naledi fossils were discovered there in 2013; even since, the species and its dwelling have remained relatively untouched thanks to the cave system’s extremely tight passageways. It allegedly took Berger losing 55 pounds to squeeze through some parts of Rising Star to explore H. naledi’s way of life.

Researchers previously believed H. naledi and some other early humans were incapable of producing and using fire. With its slight, 88-pound stature, small brain, and chimpanzee-like skull, the hominin has been assumed inept at even the earliest and simplest technological advances. But Berger’s and Molopyane’s discovery makes sense. Until now, researchers haven’t quite understood how H. naledi navigated and resided in dark underground caves. Previous studies have shown the species tended to cook in one part of a cave while disposing of deceased kin in another, which would have been difficult without a light source. If this year’s findings are well-founded, they could answer the question of how H. naledi made do in such dark conditions—and change how we understand the evolution of humans and their technologies.

But Berger and his team will have to answer to quite a bit of controversy first. Their findings have yet to be peer-reviewed or otherwise analyzed and published, leaving fellow archaeologists and laypeople alike to wonder whether they should take these discoveries at face value. Berger’s choice to announce his and Molopyane’s findings via lecture instead of via conventional means has spurred a healthy dose of skepticism among researchers. Further review will be necessary to determine whether the charred remains of a potential fire will carry the impact Berger says it does.