Evidence found that man was not the first being to master fire

A momentous discovery in South Africa has the potential to turn our understanding of human history on its head. CBS News correspondent Debora Patta speaks with paleoanthologist Lee Berger, who has found evidence that a pre-human ancestor named Homo naledi may was the first being to master fire for light, warmth and cooking.

#news #southafrica #history

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[joelallgaier]

Our hubris is amazing, from dismissing our predecessors abilities, to think that we're the only ones. It's been a long journey to get here, we are standing on the shoulders of our ancestors.

[ashleydaniel]

"All this time we've been looking down, instead of looking up"
Sums up the human condition accurately

[carguy]

One of the theories I had read about was that the human brain grew because of cooked foods like meat. This would mean it wasn’t us who discovered fire but an ancestor who we inherited it from. I don’t see how it’s such a big leap.

[troyd]

It's so aggravating!! An astounding story that adds more depth to the human condition and the news anchor just says "wow he lost 50 pounds" then when the other anchor actually contributes to the conversation, he gets shut down by the first with "you using dem big words again". Idiocracy is an underrated documentary.

[georgevanaken]

3:27 “It’s because we think we have some ownership of it.”
Truer words…

[My_Alchemical_Romance]

This is huge.

Glad this has been found.

[peterevans]

Just to add another comment, so called "fire birds" are a documented phenomenon. Black Kites in Australia are known to carry burning sticks and twigs to start fires on new patches of grass land...They do this this as they hunt around the perimeter of small bushfire...Other bird species have been seen to do similar...

[sleepy]

This just proves the saying " if you want something done right, you do it yourself".

[DonaldDucksRevenge]

Congratulations to Lee Berger, Keneiloe Molopyane and their whole team. Great commitment, great discoveries!

[daily_rhetoric]

When I was a food inspector in the military I would inspect everything at eye level, the corners and things all around me. I had to be taught to look up. It’s just something that we don’t think to do at times.

[billh]

I though this was old news. My understanding was that our guts are too small for the size of our bodies and that fire was the development which allowed for our ancestors to abandon the trees for safety. If this is true then it was not humans who learned to harness fire but the harnessing of fire which created humans. It is our non-human ancestors who deserve the credit for harnessing fire.

[williamozier]

I love how every "new" discovery is actually over 10 years old.

[jeffskinner]

I think it's a rather short step for a species that's already making stone/edge tools to then advance to use of fire: if they're constantly smacking rocks together it's only a matter of time until they get the materials right and stumble across the fact that sparks plus tinder equals fire.

[xenotbbbeats]

That man hit the nail on the head regarding human hubris.

[keyfiender]

"Just because we've been by it 100 times, doesn't mean we've SEEN it."

[singalongwrudy]

Dragons had fire in Britain WAYYYY before blokes

[annettepiff]

Nothing short of fascinating! Thanks so much! I'll be sure to share.

[AshGreen]

Strange, someone once asked me when did humans first use fire. A quick Google search told me we were using fire since before we were human.

That was years ago.

[BrunetteVignette]

I'm going to state the obvious and maybe someone has already said it but what makes anyone think that the passageway was that narrow when those pre-humans lived there?

[northerniltree]

The charred beer cans found at the site further our understanding of these early hominids.