It is impossible to know when hominids began to use fire, since fires often occur naturally, and early hominids probably made use of this. However, we know that Homo erectus was a fire-user.
In the Zhoukoudian caves in China, burned bones and stones, thick ash beds, and charcoal have been found, showing that fire was being used 500,000 years ago.
In the cooler climate of Eurasia, fire would have provided much-needed warmth. It could also be used for cooking.
Charles Darwin was a British naturalist who in 1859 wrote a very important book called the Origin of Species.
Darwin had realized that animals and plants change over long periods of time because they compete for food and mates.
Only the “best” or “fittest” creatures survive, and those alive today are the result of millions of years of evolution. This is called natural selection.
Darwin caused a furor in 19th-century England by applying his theories to humans; the discovery of Neanderthal fossils proved that humans are also the product of evolution.