Shift to Fire Creation: Flint-Knapping as Potential Fire Creation

This research examines the possibility of unintentional percussion fire origins through stone tool creation. I hypothesize that accidental fires created from percussion in flintknapping are a viable possibility for humans’ shift from fire-control to fire-creation. This shift to the ability to create fire is not well understood, as there are few very old fire sites, and those are not firmly dated, and are not clearly determined as natural, controlled, or created. Better understanding this shift allows a greater understanding of the behavioral and evolutionary history of the human lineage. Methodology for this investigation included the use of Olduwan flint-knapping, the same technique used by early humans at the accepted time of first fire creation. The sparks created in this manner were graded on a four-point scale to quantitatively determine the likelihood of accidental fire creation during flint-knapping, with the results indicating that percussive origins were not likely.