FIREMAKING - HISTORY

 

FIRE
 

Since the dawn of time, fire has been one of the foundations of human existence:

  • it dispelled darkness and warded off evil spirits.

  • it protected people against feral animals and gave off warmth.

  • it provided people hot food.

 

PROMETHEUS BRINGING PEOPLE FIRE

 

In the beginning, fire was considered sacred and a gift from God. Numerous legends about the inception of fire have surfaced, the most prominent one being the Greek myth of Prometheus, who stole fire from the gods and gave it to people. As punishment for this, Prometheus was chained to the rocks of Caucasus by Zeus. 

 

FIRE - NATURE’S GIFT

 

For over a million years, humans did not know how to light a fire themselves. Fire was a gift of nature, born from a thunderstorm strike or a volcanic eruption.

 

FIRE DRILL

 

Humans started making their own fires only around 100,000 years ago. The first method for that was rubbing two dry pieces of wood together. Rubbing them yields wood dust, which quickly becomes hot due to friction. The hot dust should then be blown into embers. The heat from the embers lights a tinder and as such, fire is created. This method had many iterations, but all of them worked on the same principle.

 

THE ABILITY TO MAKE FIRE ENSURED HUMANITY COULD DEVELOP