Who Tamed Fire First? Essay -- Exploratory Essays Research Papers

Who Tamed recruit First? The farther back in time we explore, the more(prenominal) inhabit there seems to be for discrepancy among various theories regarding the history of the earth. One of the many a(prenominal) disputed aspects of history concerns the nature of the kind between humans and the environment. This study will focus on the debate of the origin of starting time tame conjure. Was it Homo erectus or Homo sapiens? The widely accepted spoiled bang theory of evolution paints Homo erectus as no more than a smart ape, (McCrone, New Scientist, may 20, 2000, 31) with a, 15-minute culture, (McCrone, 34) incapable of manipulating his surrounding environment. though even if we were to believe he was physically capable of accomplishing this act, McCrone explains, controlling fire simply seemed too intellectually sophisticated a feat for this creature, who were, unprocessed toolmakers, and showed no signs of symbolic thinking over the next million or more days of their ex istence, (McCrone, 31). Under this theory, any remains of fires from his time ar written off as bush fires, lightning strikes, and other such by nature induced occurrences. It is not until Homo sapiens comes along that humans argon considered to have begun to master their environment.A recent, more scientifically based abbreviation of ancient Chinese fires supports this same stance that Homo erectus was not the first to tame fire. The geological analysis took place at the Zhoukoudian site in China, where an opposing theory marks the first controlled fire at 500,000 years ago by Homo erectus hands, (Wuethrich, Science Magazine, July 10, 1998). Though they confirmed get burnt bones from the site, there was no solid evidence to extract the controlled use of fire, such as hearths,... ...order in our world. It gives us a past, drive home and future. Time also offers us a sense of perspective, so that we bum make insights and connections, decide what is true and what is false, wha t is valuable and what is inconsequential. In this regard, the debate over the time and origin of the first tamed fire is an effective example of the ways in which time affects our perception of human kind and its similarityship with the environment. Which theory of origin we ultimately choose to believe is particularly momentous in that it gives insight into the way in which we view ourselves in relation to our past.Sources CitedDid Homo Erectus Tame Fire First? Balter, Michael. Science. June 16, 1995.Fired Up. McCrone, John. New Scientist, May 20, 2000.Geological Analysis Damps Ancient Chinese Fires. Wuethrich, Bernice. Science Magazine, July 10, 1998.