Different groups of hominins probably learned from one another much earlier than was previously thought, and that knowledge was also distributed much further. A study on the use of fire shows that 400 ka ago knowledge and skills must already have been exchanged via social networks. The most important question is: what was it that made widespread cultural diffusion possible 400 ka ago? ‘I hope we can change the discussion surrounding fire use by hominins. That we look more at what the use of fire meant for human development and how that related to social change.’

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