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Radio France Internationale
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Human use of controlled fire dates back 400,000 years, new study suggests

Britain British Museum Barnham
A man dressed as a Neanderthal holds a torch up to a rock in a rock in Chianale, in the Italian Alps, in August 2019. © AFP - MARCO BERTORELLO

Scientists in Britain say new evidence suggests ancient humans may have mastered the art of making fire far earlier than previously believed.

New research suggests deliberate fire-setting took place in what is now eastern England around 400,000 years ago, pushing back the earliest known date for controlled fire-making by roughly 350,000 years.

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