Why we love our braais

Scientists said yesterday they have uncovered the earliest evidence of campfires made by human ancestors in a cave in South Africa, suggesting that the practice might have started one million years ago.

Until now, experts have found little consensus on when our prehistoric cousins figured out how to make sparks for cooking food and keeping warm, according to the study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The earliest signs of fire were believed to be in Israel, dating to around 700000-800000 years ago.

Fragments of burnt animal bones and stone tools that appear to be even older have since been found in layers of sediment at the Wonderwerk Cave of the Kuruman Hills, between Danielskuil and Kuruman in the Northern Cape, where earlier excavations have shown a significant human occupation.

"The analysis pushes the timing for the human use of fire back by 300000 years, suggesting that human ancestors as early as Homo erectus may have begun using fire as part of their way of life," said University of Toronto anthropologist Michael Chazan, co-director of the project.