EVIDENCE FOR THE USE OF FIRE AT ZHOUKOUDIAN, CHINA

Zhoukoudian is widely regarded as having the oldest reliable evidence for the controlled use of fire by humans. A reexamination of the evide nce in Layer 10, the earliest archaeological horizon in the site, show s that burned and unburned bones are present in the same Layer with st one tools. However, no ash or charcoal remnants could be detected. Hen ce, although indirect evidence for burning is present, there is no dir ect evidence for in situ burning.