How long have humans been using fire? When did humans start using fire?

How long has the history of human use of fire? Many archaeologists are still exploring this question. In the 70s of the 19th century, when Henry Morgan was studying this issue, due to the lack of archaeological data, he could only base on the ethnographic data that existed among Australians and most of the Linians at that time, and set the time when humans began to use fire in the period of the middle obscurantist society, that is, from the acquisition of fish food (equivalent to the late Paleolithic or the beginning of the Mesolithic Age) The history of human use of fire is still based on the concept of tens of thousands of years.

1927 In 1957, a large amount of charcoal, ashes, burned clods of earth, stones, bones and seeds of the Pushu tree were excavated at the Zhoukoudian ape-man cultural site in Beijing, as well as ash layers and burnt bones found at the Zhoukoudian site 13, which was slightly earlier than the "Peking ape-man", thus expanding people's horizons and changing people's understanding of the concept of time in human use of fire. When Mr. Jia Lanpo and Mr. Wu Rukang studied these materials, they pointed out that "human beings did not use fire from the time of 'Peking Man'" and that at that time, Peking Man had already had a long experience in using fire.

In this way, the history of human use of fire is pushed back to 550,000 years ago.

Fire can benefit or destroy people. As early as human beings drank blood with Ru Mao to use natural fire, human beings took a big leap forward, and since then, human beings have eaten cooked food, used farm tools, sat on vehicles, and lived in buildings all related to fire. Of course, many fires have also brought many disasters to mankind.

The key is how we treat and use fire. Heating, cooking, and burning fire can benefit or destroy people Fire can cook and keep warm. Self-immolation and arson are also allowed.

Doesn't this question mean that there are two sides to everything? The pros and cons are connected. The good is the good, and the bad is the bad!

According to archaeology, human beings knew how to use fire about 300 years ago, and the power of fire left a very deep impression on human beings, and the use of fire has brought great changes to human life, such as fire can be used for lighting, cooking food, roasting the body, driving away beasts, protecting safety and so on. Chemistry also developed with the use of fire. Human understanding of fire has gone through a long history, from myths to legends, to phlogiston to later combustion theories.

Human beings have gone through the following steps in using fire: First, the use of natural fire. Volcanic eruptions, lightning strikes, meteorite landing, long-term dry welding, spontaneous combustion of coal and trees, etc., can form natural fires.

This process was repeated many times, so that people saw the power and effect of fire, and gradually learned to use fire, probably to lead the fire to the hole, and often put firewood in it, forming a fire that is not easy to extinguish for people to use. Second, drill wood for fire. A fire is made by drilling wood and rubbing it, and then igniting flammable materials to obtain a fire and light the fire.

Third, make fire with flint, flam, and velvet. Legend has it that primitive people, when hunting, used stones to throw prey, because the stones collided with sparks, and over time, they learned to hit each other with stones, hit sparks, and then ignite the fluff of plants to make fire. Later, this method was improved in many ways to form a system of flint, sickle, and velvet for making fire.

Now it is believed that it is drilling wood for fire. But many years ago, I came across an academic article. There are different points of view.

It is believed that the place to drill wood for fire is in a cave. This Douzheng cave is generally believed to have been inhabited by primitive people. However, some scholars have found that there are fossils of hyena hollow dogs.

It is believed that the hyena dog dragged primitive man into the hyena hole to eat the remnants. This is one. Second.

Burning ruins in the cave. Was it primitive man who drilled wood to make fire? Some scholars, however, have found that there is animal feces in it.

After the cave collapses, when it reaches a certain temperature, it will completely cause spontaneous combustion. It's not a primitive man who drilled wood to make fire.

Learning to use fire does represent a milestone in humanity's march toward a civilized world. Strictly speaking, learning to process tools is an important difference between humans and animals.

During the primitive civilization period, human beings learned to convert fire into heat energy to barbecue food, fight prey, and use the light brought by fire to illuminate, and the final result is to learn to rub and make fire, which is an ability that other animals do not have. This ability is the secondary production utilization of tools.

By the industrial period, the secondary production capacity of human beings was used to invent, wind energy to electricity, nuclear energy to electricity, and a series of energy conversions.