The Human LineTechnology Control of fire 1 million years agoTurning point Burned bone and plant ash at Wonderwerk Cave in South Africa suggest early fire use. Fire means warmth, protection, light and cooking. ▲ MattersSaveShareTrace roots Longest chain: The Big Bang → First stars ignite → Supernovae seed heavy elements → The Sun forms → Earth forms → First oceans → First life → Photosynthesis evolves → Great Oxidation Event → Complex cells (eukaryotes) → Multicellular life → First animals → Cambrian Explosion → First vertebrates → Jawed fish → Fish walk onto land → The amniotic egg → The Great Dying → Dinosaurs appear → Asteroid ends the dinosaurs → Early primates → Apes split from monkeys → Human line splits from chimpanzees → Walking upright → First stone tools → Genus Homo appears → Homo erectus → Control of fire Community notesLoading notes… Learn more ranked by votesDocumentsmithsonianmag.comThe earliest example of hominid fire (Smithsonian Magazine) ↗Editor's pickBookRichard WranghamCatching Fire: How Cooking Made Us Human ↗Editor's pickVideoSearch on YouTubewhen did humans control fire ↗Editor's pick