WONDERWERK CAVE — A new study published in the journal PLOS One in June 2026 used a light-emitting technique to identify evidence of controlled fire use by early humans in Wonderwerk Cave, South Africa. This research expanded the timeline for early human fire use at the site to between 1.07 and 1.79 million years ago.

The study was conducted by an international team that included researchers from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, as well as institutions in Spain, Argentina, Canada, the U.S., South Africa, Portugal, and Israel. This team developed a method to detect traces of ancient fires based on the light-emitting properties of burned bone. The bones emit a distinctive glow when exposed to specific wavelengths of light, if they have been subjected to high heat.

Researchers applied this light-emitting technique, combined with chemical analyses, to identify burned animal bones. They analyzed hundreds of tiny, fossilized bones that had been left in the cave by owls that roosted there. These fossilized remains accumulated naturally, providing a non-human-influenced record of past events in the cave.

Evidence of fire was discovered in an archaeological layer where artifacts associated with Homo erectus have been found. The remains were located approximately 30 meters inside Wonderwerk Cave, which is situated in the Kalahari Desert. This location was protected from wildfires and did not contain guano residues, factors that supported the findings.

Professor Kolska Horwitz said, "Evidence of fire from such ancient sites is often subtle and difficult to detect." She added, "Our study provides new tools for identifying traces of ancient burning and reveals that fire was repeatedly present deep inside Wonderwerk Cave." Regarding the implications, Horwitz said, "These discoveries show that early humans were not simply passive observers of natural fires. They were actively engaging with fire and incorporating it into their lives." The study suggested that early humans may have used owl pellets as fuel. A 2012 study previously indicated that early humans used fire at Wonderwerk Cave as early as one million years ago.