Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Rocks And Residues: Rekindling The Past Microscopy Of Flint Flakes, Sean Deryck, Bruce Hardy

Bruce Hardy

Exactly when and where humans gained control over fire has been an archaeological dispute for years. What is undisputed is how profound of an impact this discovery had on human evolution, influencing everything about how people lived. It provided protection and warmth, allowed for cooking, and likely changed social structures as a whole. Determining when this milestone was reached, and thus how exactly it impacted our past, requires a way to discern if fires were started incidentally, or opportunistically controlled. This can be done by examining the tools that would have been used to make the fires: strike-a-lights, or pieces …