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Andre
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Newest Science issue:
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/304/5671/663a
Science, Vol 304, Issue 5671, 663-665 , 30 April 2004
BTW, the Hippo was common as north as the UK in certain times so it might not have been always that cold in Europe. What interests me is why -after controlling fire- it still took 784,000 years before building civilisations.
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/304/5671/663a
Earliest Signs of Human-Controlled Fire Uncovered in Israel
Michael Balter
If you want to ignite a debate among archaeologists, just ask a simple question: When did humans first control fire? In recent decades, scientific journals have been ablaze with claims and counterclaims about this crucial step in human development. Now an Israeli team adds more fuel, reporting on page 725 new findings that push the earliest credible evidence back to 790,000 years ago--more than three times earlier than the previously accepted date. Surprisingly, however, this claim may be strong enough to damp down the debate rather than stoke it up.
Archaeologists caution that the possibility of natural fires can never be entirely excluded at such an ancient site, and a few would like to see a bit more evidence before they start celebrating. But this time the skepticism is noticeably subdued. "I think they have made by far the best case yet for humanly controlled fire before 250,000 years ago," says Richard Klein of Stanford University in California. Paola Villa of the University of Colorado, Boulder, agrees: The paper "provides very strong evidence of the use of fire by early humans," she says. If the claim is substantiated, it may help explain how early humans were able to push into the chillier climate of Europe after 800,000 years ago...
Science, Vol 304, Issue 5671, 663-665 , 30 April 2004
BTW, the Hippo was common as north as the UK in certain times so it might not have been always that cold in Europe. What interests me is why -after controlling fire- it still took 784,000 years before building civilisations.