A kit was discovered in China to turn on the fire of 7,000 years ago: it is older than the pyramids

In the heart of Eastern China, a team of archaeologists brought to light a surprising find: a Kit to turn on the fire dating back to 7,000 years ago. This ancient tool represents the oldest physical test of the use of technologies to generate fire in the country.

The kit, found on the archaeological site of Caoyangangin the province of Jiangsu, is composed of a perforator stick and a wooden tablet, both in an extraordinary state of conservation. The stick, over long 60 centimeterswas rotated quickly to produce heat through friction. The tablet, of about 30 centimetershas more than ten blackened grooves, unequivocal signs of repeated attempts to turn on a fire. Scholars also identified a circular furrow on one end of the tablet, probably used to hang it or transport it easily.

Second Gan Huiyuanat the head of the excavations for the Provincial Institute of Jiangsu for cultural heritage and archeology, it is an unprecedented discovery:

This is the set for the perforation of the Fire best preserved never found in China.

The extraordinary conservation of a wooden finding of millennia ago

The survival of these wooden instruments is an exceptional fact, especially considering the wet climate of the Jiangsu region, which tends to quickly deteriorate the organic materials. Liu Zhengmember of the Chinese society for cultural heritage, defined the discovery “A stroke of luck for archaeological research”underlining that it provides valuable information on the origins of Chinese civilization.

The website of Caoyangangwhich extends over an area of ​​beyond 80,000 square metershas already returned more than 3,000 artifacts Since the excavations began in 2022

Second Shi Yanyanof the Institute of Archeology of Jiangsu, the structures found on the site – Fosso for the ash, foundations of homes and fences – they indicate the presence of a permanent community with advanced skills in the processing of wood:

The inhabitants of this ancient society had already developed significant skills in manipulation and use of wood.

Curiously, this discovery It echoes an ancient Chinese myth According to which the first human beings learned to turn on the fire by rubbing pieces of wood between them.

The importance of fire: a revolution for the first civilizations

The invention of the fire on command represented an epochal change for human communities. Thanks to the perforation of the wood, our ancestors could turn on the fire when necessaryobtaining heat, protection and the possibility of cooking food. The ability to control fire is a milestone in the development of civilizations.

The importance of this discovery is part of a wider historical picture: it is believed that humans have started to use the fire more than a million years agousing natural flames caused by lightning or volcanic eruptions. However, only about 200,000 years agoHomo Sapiens developed more sophisticated methods to turn it on, including the percussion of stones such as flint and pyrite, and friction techniques.

The curtain -based ignition methods – as the manual drill, the drilling arch and the plow on fire – you want according to the available materials and environmental conditions. In Asia, for example, the use of bamboo sawswhile in Africa and Australia they predominated i manual traps. In Europe, the oldest tools for perforation of fire date back to beyond 9,000 years ago.

One of the most popular tools in the ancient world was thedrillprobably derived from the arch and arrows. It was particularly used in the colder regions, such as Canada and Alaska. Examples of Egyptian arched trains dating back to 2000 AC were found in the tombswhile in China similar tools were discovered in the necropolis of Ji’erzankaledated around 2500 BC these tools were often made with highly flammable woods such as poplar and willow.

As research progresses, archaeologists hope to obtain further details on technologies and social organization of these ancient communities, throwing new light on the history of humanity and its fundamental innovations.