PNAS PLUS

Microstratigraphic evidence of in situ fire in the

Acheulean strata of Wonderwerk Cave, Northern
Cape province, South Africa
Francesco Bernaa,1, Paul Goldberga,b, Liora Kolska Horwitzc, James Brinkd,e, Sharon Holtd, Marion Bamfordf,
and Michael Chazang
a
Department of Archaeology, Boston University, Boston, MA 02215; bRole of Culture in Early Expansions of Humans, Heidelberg Academy of Science
and Humanities, 72070 Tübingen, Germany; cNatural History Collections, Faculty of Life Sciences, Hebrew University, Jerusalem 91904, Israel; dFlorisbad
Quaternary Research Department, National Museum, Bloemfontein 9300, South Africa; eCentre for Environmental Management, Bloemfontein 9300, South
Africa; fBernard Price Institute for Palaeontological Research, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg 2050, South Africa; and gDepartment of
Anthropology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada M5S 2S2

Edited by Donald K. Grayson, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, and approved February 24, 2012 (received for review October 25, 2011)

The ability to control fire was a crucial turning point in human identified as having been burned based on thermoluminescence
evolution, but the question when hominins first developed this properties (8, 9). Comparable analyses have been made on sites in
ability still remains. Here we show that micromorphological and the Middle Awash (10). At Swartkrans (South Africa), burned
Fourier transform infrared microspectroscopy (mFTIR) analyses of bones were identified from member 3, dated to ca. 1.0 to 1.5 Ma,
intact sediments at the site of Wonderwerk Cave, Northern Cape based on histological characteristics and chemical identification of
province, South Africa, provide unambiguous evidence—in the char (11–13). However, at Swartkrans, the burned bones appear to
be in secondary context in the fill of a gully (11). Some of the most

ANTHROPOLOGY
form of burned bone and ashed plant remains—that burning took
place in the cave during the early Acheulean occupation, approx- intensive research on early use of fire has focused on the site of
imately 1.0 Ma. To the best of our knowledge, this is the earliest Gesher Benot Ya’akov in the Jordan Valley (Israel), dated to
secure evidence for burning in an archaeological context. between 0.7 and 0.8 Ma, where pot-lid fractures, characteristic
rounded concave scars produced by heat-induced removal of
planoconvex flakes, have been used to identify burned micro-
micromorphology | cooking hypothesis | Homo erectus debitage (14). Thermoluminescence analysis supports the identi-
fication of burned microdebitage, and its spatial distribution,
he ability to control fire was a crucial turning point in human
T evolution, but there is no consensus as to when hominins first
developed this ability. According to Richard Wrangham’s “cook-
together with the presence of charred wood, seeds, and grains led
to the identification of “phantom hearths” (5, 15, 16). Neverthe-
less, the evidence and acceptance for controlled use of fire at any
ing hypothesis,” Homo erectus was adapted to a diet of cooked of the Acheulean sites noted earlier remains controversial. The
food and therefore was capable of controlling fire (1). Recent controversies stem from the fact that these are open-air sites and it
phylogenetic studies on nonhuman and human primates based is not possible to completely exclude the action of wildfires (3).
on associated trends in body mass, feeding time, and molar size Moreover, in none of the Acheulean contexts reviewed earlier has
support the hypothesis of the adoption of a cooked diet at least research included microstratigraphic analysis of the deposits that
as early as the first appearance of H. erectus approximately 1.9 encase the burned objects. There is no evidence of, nor were
Ma (2). However, to date, the evidence for controlled use of fire attempts made to look for, calcareous wood ash (i.e., ashed plant
in association with H. erectus is scant and inconclusive, as tissues and oxalate pseudomorphs) as reported in Qesem Cave (4).
pointed out in a recent review of the archaeological record by Interestingly, at Zhoukoudian in China, microstratigraphic
Roebroeks and Villa (3). Unequivocal evidence for the habitual analysis demonstrated that features as old as 0.6 Ma originally
use of fire in early hominin sites, such as that reported for Qesem considered evidence of in situ combustion (e.g., layer 10) or wood
Cave (4), is so far found in sites dated after 0.4 Ma, thus associ- ash residues (e.g., layer 4) are actually the result of water-de-
ating the earliest control of fire primarily with early Homo sapiens posited organic-rich sediment and colluvial reworking of loess,
and Neanderthals (3).
respectively (17). Although Fourier transform infrared spectros-
Through the application of micromorphological analysis and
copy (FTIR) analysis supports the presence of burned bones as-
Fourier transform infrared microspectroscopy (mFTIR) of intact
sociated with burned flint at Zhoukoudian (18), these remains are
sediments and examination of associated archaeological finds—
not directly associated with in situ anthropogenic combustion
fauna, lithics, and macrobotanical remains—we provide un-
features. Thus, any reasonable statement about their unambiguous
ambiguous evidence in the form of burned bone and ashed plant
remains that burning events took place in Wonderwerk Cave association to hominin behavior remains inconclusive (17, 18).
The use of high-resolution microscopic analysis of intact sedi-
during the early Acheulean occupation, approximately 1.0 Ma.
ments has been used extensively in the Middle Stone Age of Africa
To date, to the best of our knowledge, this is the earliest secure
evidence for burning in an archaeological context. and the Middle Paleolithic of the Middle East and Europe (cited in

Previous Research on Early Evidence of Fire

Claims for early traces of fire have been made for sites in Africa, Author contributions: F.B., P.G., L.K.H., and M.C. designed research; F.B., P.G., L.K.H., J.B.,
S.H., M.B., and M.C. performed research; F.B. contributed new analytic tools; F.B., P.G.,
Asia, and Europe (5). In East Africa, sites that have produced
L.K.H., J.B., S.H., M.B., and M.C. analyzed data; and F.B., P.G., L.K.H., and M.C. wrote
evidence of fire include Gadeb 8E, Koobi Fora FxJj 20 East, and the paper.
Chesowanja GnJi 1/6E. At Chesowanja, dated to more than 1.42 ±
The authors declare no conflict of interest.
0.07 Ma based on K-Ar dating of an overlying basalt, 40 pieces of
This article is a PNAS Direct Submission.
discolored clay aggregates were found intermingled with De-
veloped Oldowan lithics and fauna (6). Magnetic susceptibility Freely available online through the PNAS open access option.
1
analysis of the rubefied clay aggregates indicates that they were To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: [email protected].
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burned. At Gadeb 8e, magnetic properties of cobbles of welded See Author Summary on page 7593 (volume 109, number 20).
tuff indicate that they were also burned (7), and at Koobi Fora FxJj This article contains supporting information online at www.pnas.org/lookup/suppl/doi:10.
20—dated to 1.5 Ma—similarly discolored sediment patches were 1073/pnas.1117620109/-/DCSupplemental.

www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.1117620109 PNAS | Published online April 2, 2012 | E1215–E1220

 refs. 19, 20). Numerous microscopic studies of combustion features cave mouth, immediately behind a large, active stalagmite which
clearly reveal information not readily obtainable with other ana- developed during the past 35,000 y (22, 23).
lytical techniques, including fuel composition, internal organization Since 2004, our team has renewed fieldwork, performed chro-
of the feature, and combustion conditions (19, 20). Such studies nometric dating. and reanalyzed the archaeological record of
illustrate the range of ways that Neanderthals and early modern the site (24, 25). Details on the archaeological, lithological, and
humans were associated with fire in their occupation sites (21). chronological stratigraphy of excavation 1 are given in SI Text
Historically, with the exception of Zhoukoudian, research that used and illustrated in Figs. S1–S4. The archaeological sequence
microstratigraphic analyses of contextualized intact sediments have begins with a small tool industry attributed to the Oldowan in
been absent in the study of early hominin use of fire. basal stratum 12, which is overlain by an Acheulean sequence.
This sequence shows developments from rare protobifaces
Wonderwerk Cave (stratum 11) through bifaces with noninvasive retouch in stratum
Wonderwerk Cave (Fig. 1) is an approximately 140-m-long 10 (Fig. 1 B and C), to highly refined biface production beginning
phreatic tube that formed in Precambrian dolostones of the in stratum 9 (detailed in SI Text and Fig. S2). The evidence for
Kuruman Hills (Northern Cape province, South Africa). Be- fire presented in this study comes from stratum 10. Beaumont’s
ginning in the 1970s and ending in the 1990s, extensive archae- excavation of this stratum covered 48 square yards (Fig. S1), and
ological excavations were carried out by P. B. Beaumont in seven yielded a low density of lithic artifacts comprising only seven
different areas within the cave (Fig. 1D). The longest Earlier bifaces (Fig. 1 B and C and Fig. S3 A–D), 36 flakes, 15 cores, and
Stone Age (ESA) sequence, approximately 2 m deep, is found in 23 slabs of banded ironstone showing flake removals that were
excavation 1, currently located approximately 30 m in from the classified as “modified slabs.”

Fig. 1. (A) Map showing the lo-

cation of Wonderwerk Cave. (B–C)
Handaxes characteristic of the
Acheulean of stratum 10, excava-
tion 1, Wonderwerk Cave. (D) Plan
of Wonderwerk Cave generated by
laser scanning shows the location
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of excavation areas discussed in

this study (courtesy of H. Rüther,
Zamani project).

E1216 | www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.1117620109 Berna et al.

 PNAS PLUS
Results Fig. 3. Micromorphological analysis shows that the upper part of
Site Formation and in Situ Evidence of Fire in ESA at Wonderwerk Cave. the basal microfacies 1 is a clearly defined surface that exhibits
Microstratigraphic investigation combining the use of sediment abundant remains of ashed plants and minute bone fragments
micromorphology and mFTIR was conducted to investigate site (Fig. 3). As a number of intact blocks of sediment encompassed
formation processes and human activities in excavation 1 (Fig. 2). this part of the stratigraphic sequence, it was possible to docu-
Micromorphological analysis indicates that the lithological se- ment a few surfaces and the evidence for burning over 1 meter
quence in excavation 1 began with an archaeologically sterile along the section (Fig. S5). FTIR microspectroscopy applied di-
phreatic sediment. This is overlain by the earliest archaeological rectly to thin sections made from these blocks shows that some of
occupation (stratum 12) characterized by low-energy water de- the bones lying on these surfaces had been heated to ca. 500 °C
position of sand and fine gravel, probably caused by sheet flow (Fig. 4 and Fig. S5). Significantly, the angularity of bone frag-
(Fig. 2B). From the top of stratum 12, the depositional processes ments and the exceptional state of preservation of the ashed plant
involved the accumulation of aeolian material composed of material (Fig. 3 C and D and Fig. S5) indicate that both compo-
rounded aggregates of silty clay (Fig. 2D) that formed in drying nents were not transported from a distance into the cave by water
ponds outside the cave, as well as fine sand (Fig. 2E); in some of or wind, but were combusted and accumulated locally. Moreover,
the strata, the aeolian aggregates appear reworked by gravity or micromorphology and mFTIR did not show evidence for remains
trampling. The aeolian deposition is interspersed with episodes of of guano and/or high-temperature phosphate mineral phases (i.e.,
cave roof/wall collapse and successive diagenesis of dolostone or berlinite and hydroxylellestadite); these minerals characteristi-
flowstone that produced grayish-white phosphatized layers, rich cally form during spontaneous combustion of bat guano—a rare
in dark oxide nodules and degraded rock fragments (Fig. 2C). event but one documented inside caves (27).
These white layers were at first erroneously interpreted as The ashed plant remains are situated in the middle of ar-
remains of combustion features (23). chaeological stratum 10, which shows a normal magnetic orien-
Field and microscopic observations of thin sections revealed tation and is bracketed between two cosmogenic burial ages of
that stratum 10 is composed of a complex sequence of lithological 1.27 ± 0.19 Ma and 0.98 ± 0.19 Ma (Fig. S4 and Table S1) (25).
centimeter-scale microstratigraphic units (i.e., microfacies) (26). The Normal event can therefore be assigned to the Jaramillo
subchron (1.07–0.99 Ma), a time range that fits with current

ANTHROPOLOGY
Three of these are illustrated in the thin-section scans shown in

Fig. 2. (A) Photograph of the east section in excavation 1 with boundaries between archaeological strata 12 and 9. Numbered boxes indicate location of
intact block sampled for microstratigraphic analysis. (Scale bar: 10 cm) (B) Representative micrograph of low-energy, water-bedded silt, sand, and 0.5-cm-thick
gravel (lag) from stratum 12. (Scale bar: 1 mm.) (C) Micrograph of microfacies from white layer close to top of stratum 12 composed of diagenetically altered
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dolostone and flowstone, with nodules of montgomeryite (arrows). (D) Micrograph of reddish-brown, wind-blown silty clay aggregates that comprise several
lithological units starting from the top of stratum 12. (Scale bar: 1 mm.) (E) Representative micrograph of wind-blown, fine sand mixed with millimeter-sized
bone fragments from tan lithological units in strata 11, 10, and 9. (Scale bar: 1 mm.)

Berna et al. PNAS | Published online April 2, 2012 | E1217

 Fig. 3. (A) Photograph of east profile corresponding to squares R/Q28 showing a detailed view of stratum 10. Box indicates approximate location of thin
section (B), exhibiting three microstratigraphic units (microfacies): (1) bottom sandy silt and clay mixed with ashed plant material, dispersed wood ash, and
bone fragments; (2) clay aggregates and fragments; and (3) rounded aggregates of sandy silt. Large red rectangular box indicates the location of boundary
between microfacies 1 and 2, which is enlarged immediately above in C. Small blue box indicates subsurface location with wood ash pieces dispersed in silty
sediment (enlarged in H). (C) Magnification of contact area between microfacies 1 and 2 in thin section shown in B shows characteristic of erosion and
successive stabilized surface, on top of which are ashed plant material and bone fragments shown in micrographs (D–J). Boxes mark the location of
microphotographs shown in D–G, I, and J (PPL). (Scale bar: 1 cm.). (D) Micrograph of fragments of ashed plant material (PPL). (Scale bars: 1 mm.) (E)
Micrographs of lump of calcitic wood ash with typical ash rhombs (oxalate pseudomorphs) and prisms at the contact between microfacies 1 and 2 (PPL). (Scale
bar: 500 μm.). (F and G) Micrographs of fragments of ashed plant material (PPL) (Scale bars: 1 mm.) (H) Sediment from microfacies 1, with fragmented ashed
plant material and dispersed wood ash rhombs and prisms (oxalate pseudomorphs; PPL). (Scale bar: 1 mm.) (I) Micrograph of contact area between
microfacies showing clay aggregates in microfacies 2 and organometallic area (degraded charred material?) and bone fragments resting on the surface of
microfacies 1. (Scale bar: 1 mm.). (J) Micrograph of bone fragment. (Scale bar: 100 μm.)

understanding of the chronological position of the early Acheu- formed on several bone fragments from this square shows that
lean within the ESA in Southern Africa (28). some of the discolored bone fragments (namely black, gray, and
white fragments) display FTIR absorption characteristics of bone
Macroscopic Evidence of Fire in Stratum 10 at Wonderwerk Cave. In mineral heated to more than 400 °C (Fig. 5), thus supporting the
a recent publication, based on his field observations during ex- microstratigraphic observation (Fig. 4 and Fig. S5).
cavation, Beaumont (23) reported macroscopic evidence for None of the bones analyzed shows IR patterns characteristic of
burning in the excavation 1 ESA assemblage. Our investigation complete calcination, namely the complete removal of the carbo-
is based on the study of faunal, lithic, and macrobotanical nates within the bone carbonate-hydoxylapatite. Thus, none of the
assemblages from Beaumont’s excavation in stratum 10, in con- specimens analyzed reached temperatures of, or greater than, 700 °C.
cert with the analysis of their sedimentary contexts. Sediment adhering to some of the gray bone fragments exhibit FTIR
A sample of stratum 10 fauna (total number of identified spectral characteristics of clay minerals heated between 400 °C
specimens, 675; includes 80 teeth and/or tooth fragments and and 700 °C (Fig. S6), again supporting the hypothesis of in situ
595 complete bones and/or bone splinters) was studied in detail burning of sediment during the Acheulean in this area of the cave.
for macroscopic traces of burning, namely surface darkening and Banded ironstone is the main raw material for artifacts found in
calcination. Much of the fauna from this stratum shows discol- the Acheulean of excavation 1. Banded ironstone is also found in
oration typical of burning as a result of charring and calcination the assemblage as decimeter-size unworked slabs. These could
(Fig. 5). Color changes, interpreted as the result of exposure to have entered the cave only as manuports, as the cave is situated in
fire, were identified on 43.7% (total number of identified dolostone and there were no site formation processes that could
specimens, 295) of the bones and teeth in this sample (Table S2). have transported these slabs into the cave (Fig. 2 and Fig. S5). In
Traces of burning were found on faunal samples from excavation stratum 10, banded ironstone artifacts and manuports show char-
spits (arbitrary 5- or 10-cm-deep levels within a stratum) across acteristic pot-lid fractures (Fig. S7A); of 633 spits (arbitrary units of
the entire excavation area and in all depths within stratum 10. 1 × 1 square yards and 5 cm depth) excavated in stratum 10, 61
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In square R28, which directly abuts the location with ashed produced unworked ironstone with pot-lid fractures. The distri-
plant material and burned bones on a surface, the frequency of bution of the spits that produced ironstone with pot-lid fractures
burned bone reached 80% of the sample. FTIR analysis per- covers the entire excavation area and all depths within stratum 10.

E1218 | www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.1117620109 Berna et al.

 PNAS PLUS
atures in excess of 500 °C (Fig. S7B). Although pot-lid fracture can
form as a result of agents other than exposure to fire, we have no
evidence to support an alternative interpretation for their abun-
dance in the stratum 10 assemblage; pot-lids were rarely observed
in surface samples outside the cave.
Discussion and Conclusions
Microstratigraphic investigations of the Acheulean stratum 10 at
Wonderwerk Cave show the presence of well preserved ashed
plant material and burned bone fragments deposited in situ on
discrete surfaces and mixed within sediment in between these
surfaces. The good preservation and angularity of the particles
suggest that these materials were the products of local combus-
tion episodes that occurred in the proximity of the find spot,
which is 30 m in from the present-day entrance.
The significant amounts and extensive distribution of macro-
scopic burned bone fragments and ironstone manuports with
pot-lid fractures, along with evidence of heated sediment, sug-
Fig. 4. Representative mFTIR reflectance spectra (red line) of bone frag- gest widespread burning events inside the cave. The prevalence
ments shown in micrographs of Fig. 4 and Fig. S1, and of an unheated and of burning throughout the entire thickness of stratum 10 mini-
experimentally heated bone processed in the thin section (black lines). Ap- mizes the likelihood that repeated wildfires were the source of
pearance of infrared bands at 1,096 cm−1 and 630 cm−1 are used as heating the burning in the cave. Similarly, the absence of guano remains
temperature indicators, showing that the archaeological fragment was and the lack of characteristic high-temperature phosphates sug-
heated to more than 400 °C but less than 550 °C. gest that the burning in stratum 10 was not a result of guano self-

ANTHROPOLOGY
ignition episodes. Finally, the possibility of the material being
combusted as a result of heat transfer from combustion events
Several pot-lid flakes (some refittable to the original slabs; Fig. S8) occurring in an overlying Holocene layer is highly unlikely be-
were found, indicating that fracturing of the ironstone occurred cause of the interposition of overlying Acheulean deposits.
inside the cave. The sizes of pot-lid fractures vary from approxi- Thus, our data, although they do not show evidence of con-
mately 1 mm to larger than 4 mm, and are consistent with features structed combustion features, as listed by Roebroek and Villa as
produced by us in experimental heating of ironstone at temper- a criterion of controlled burning (3), demonstrate a very close as-

Fig. 5. Selection of bone fragments recovered close to wood ash identified in thin section (excavation 1, stratum 10, square R28, elevation from top of stratum
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10 of 15–20 cm) and their representative FTIR spectra. Gray and black bones (samples A, C, and D) show the presence of IR absorptions at 630 cm−1 and 1,090 cm−1
characteristic of bone mineral heated to more than 400 °C (32). Yellow (B) and white bone (E) fragments show IR spectral pattern characteristic of unheated
bone or heated below 400 °C. The circular and irregular opaque nodules are composed of Fe and Mn oxides and a result of diagenetic impregnation.

Berna et al. PNAS | Published online April 2, 2012 | E1219

 sociation between hominin occupation and the presence of fire Materials and Methods
deep inside Wonderwerk Cave during the Early Acheulean. This Micromorphology. Samples were taken as intact blocks and loose samples,
association strongly suggests that hominins at this site had knowl- oven-dried for several days at 60 °C, and then impregnated with unpromoted
edge of fire 1.0 Ma. This is the most compelling evidence to date polyester resin, diluted with styrene and catalyzed with methyl-ethyl-ketone
offering some support for the cooking hypothesis of Wrangham (1). peroxide. Hardened blocks were trimmed (50 × 75 mm by 10 mm thick)
Preliminary data suggest that the fuel used in Wonderwerk by using a rock saw and then sent to Spectrum Petrographics (Vancouver,
was composed mainly of “light” plant material such as grasses, WA) for processing into 30-μm-thick petrographic thin sections. The thin
brushes, and leaves. Only a small number of identifiable calcified sections were examined with binocular and petrographic microscopes in
macrobotanical specimens was recovered from stratum 10, in- plane-polarized (PPL) and cross-polarized light at magnifications ranging
cluding two small fragments of grass culms, two fragments of from 20× to 200×. Descriptive nomenclature follows that of Courty et al. (29)
and Stoops (30).
sedge culm (possibly Eleocharis spp.), and very small fragments
of dicot stem or root with diameters that are too small to permit
FTIR Spectroscopy and Microspectroscopy. FTIR spectroscopy is a molecular
identification (Fig. S9). Interestingly, no large wood charcoal
analytical technique well suited to identify heat-related transformation in
fragments were found in stratum 10. The absence of charred materials of different nature such as clay minerals (ref. 31 and refs. therein)
wood could be also a result of diagenetic processes leading to the and bone (32). In particular, because of high temperature, the bone mineral
selective preservation of charred organic materials. Nevertheless, —namely carbonate-hydroxylapatite—undergoes characteristic recrystal-
the heating temperatures estimated by FTIR analysis of bones lization. The recrystallization occurs at approximately 500 °C and above, and
and sediments do not exceed 700 °C (32) and therefore are is appreciable by FTIR spectroscopy via the sharpening of the ν4PO4 (565–630
compatible with fires fueled with leaves and grasses. cm−1) and ν3PO4 (1,020–1,100 cm−1) bands. The sharpening caused by high
Our approach demonstrates that the composition and fabric of temperature results in the appearance of two characteristic peaks at 630
combustion deposits are best documented at a microscopic scale, cm−1 and 1,096 cm−1 that are absent in fresh, archaeological, and fossil bone
and it offers a partial explanation why traces of early fire have (32). Samples processed in thin section were analyzed by FTIR micro-
been so difficult to document. It is, in fact, striking that, as op- spectroscopy by using a Thermo Spectra-Tech Continuum IR microscope at-
posed to the easily visible combustion features found in Middle tached to a Thermo-Nicolet Nexus 470 IR spectrometer. Spectra of particles
Stone Age and Middle Paleolithic cave occupations in Africa, with diameter of approximately 150 μm were collected in transmission and
Europe, and the Middle East, the most conclusive evidence for total reflectance mode with a Reflectocromat 15× objective between 2,000
fire was visible only through the use of soil micromorphology. cm−1 and 450 cm−1 at 8 cm−1 resolution.
Moreover, the unambiguous identification of burning was possi-
ble only with the use of mFTIR directly on thin sections. Addi- ACKNOWLEDGMENTS. Fieldwork at Wonderwerk Cave is carried out under
permit to M. Chazan from SAHRA and museum analysis under the terms
tionally, the macroscopic evidence from burned bones and lithic of an agreement with the McGregor Museum. We are grateful to Colin
material supports the micromorphological evidence and high- Fortune, Director, and David Morris, Head of Archaeology, and other
lights the need for further research in the investigation of early members of the staff of the McGregor Museum for their assistance. We
fire in the archaeological record. We believe microstratigraphic acknowledge the earlier work carried out at Wonderwerk Cave by Peter
investigations at Wonderwerk cave and other early hominin sites Beaumont, which served as the touchstone for this research. We thank Anna
Philips for her work on the ironstone heating experiments. This research was
in Asia and South and East Africa will have a significant impact in funded by grants from the Canadian Social Sciences and Humanities
providing fundamental evidence for the appearance of use of fire Research Council, the Wenner Gren Foundation, and National Science
and its role in hominin adaptation and evolution. Foundation Grants 0917739 and 0551927.

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