What Kept 780,000-Year-Old Campfires Burning? Scientists Have the Answer

  • تاريخ النشر: منذ 5 ساعات زمن القراءة: دقيقة قراءة

A study shows that Acheulian hominins used easily accessible lakeshore driftwood to maintain campfires 780,000 years ago.

The Site Was Gesher Benot Ya’aqov

The Campfires Date Back About 780,000 Years

Scientists Studied Ancient Charcoal

The Fuel Was Mostly What Nature Delivered

Firewood May Have Shaped Settlement Choice

The Wood Came From a Diverse Landscape

The Charcoal Was More Diverse Than Other Plant Finds

The Fires Were Linked to Cooking Fish

The Study Shows Practical Intelligence

The Answer Is Simple but Powerful

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The answer is not a dramatic lost technology or a mysterious fuel source. It is a much more practical discovery about how early humans chose where to live, eat, work, and keep fire available in a demanding prehistoric landscape.

At Gesher Benot Ya’aqov in northern Israel, near ancient Lake Hula, researchers found that Acheulian hominins likely kept fires going with readily available lakeshore driftwood. The study, published in Quaternary Science Reviews in 2026, shows how firewood access may have helped shape repeated occupation of the site nearly 780,000 years ago.

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