Ice Age Humans Were Experts at Wielding Fire, Study Finds

27 April 2025
ByRussell McLendon

Learning to control fire was a game-changer for ancient humans, who could use it to cook food, see at night, and endure cold weather, among other things.

This skill dates back at least a million years, and while fire has proven pivotal throughout human history, it can be especially valuable at certain times.


The Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), for example, was the iciest part of the most recent glacial period in Earth's current ice age – and presumably a great time to cozy up by a fire.

Yet despite the era's extreme cold, there is scant evidence of humans using fire during the LGM, which lasted from about 26,500 to 19,000 years ago.

In a new study, researchers sought answers to this mystery by analyzing the remains of three ancient fireplaces found at an archaeological site in modern-day Ukraine, all of which are associated with human occupations at the site during the LGM.

These hearths reveal new details about pyrotechnology in the late Upper Paleolithic – a span of several frigid millennia when fireplaces seem inexplicably rare in the archaeological record.

More:
https://www.sciencealert.com/ice-age-humans-were-experts-at-wielding-fire-study-finds